No firm evidence has existed that the ancient Maya civilization recorded specific occurrences of meteor showers or outbursts in the corpus of Maya hieroglyphic inscriptions. In fact, there has been no evidence of any pre-Hispanic civilization in the Western Hemisphere recording any observations of any meteor showers on any specific dates.The authors numerically integrated meteoroid-sized particles released by Comet Halley as early as 1404 BC to identify years within the Maya Classic Period, AD 250-909, when Eta Aquariid outbursts might have occurred. Outbursts determined by computer model were then compared to specific events in the Maya record to see if any correlation existed between the date of the event and the date of the outburst. The model was validated by successfully explaining several outbursts around the same epoch in the Chinese record. Some outbursts observed by the Maya were due to recent revolutions of Comet Halley, within a few centuries, and some to resonant behavior in older Halley trails, of the order of a thousand years. Examples were found of several different Jovian mean motion resonances as well as the 1:3 Saturnian resonance that have controlled the dynamical evolution of meteoroids in apparently observed outbursts.

Using orbital integrations of particles ejected from Comet Halley’s passages between 1404 and 240 BC, the authors investigate possible outbursts of the Orionids (twin shower of the Eta Aquariids) that may have been observed in the Western hemisphere. In an earlier orbital integration study, the authors determined there was a high probability linking probable outbursts of the Eta Aquariid meteor shower with certain events recorded in inscriptions during the Maya Classic Period, AD 250–900. This prior examination was the first scientific inquiry of its kind into ancient meteor outbursts possibly recorded in the Western hemisphere where previously no pre-Columbian observations had existed. In the current paper, the aim is to describe orbital dynamics of rare but probable Orionid outbursts that would have occurred on or near applicable dates recorded in the Classic Maya inscriptions. Specifically, significant probable outbursts are found in AD 417 and 585 out of 30 possible target years. The driving mechanisms for outbursts in those two years are Jovian 1:6 and 1:7 mean motion resonances acting to maintain compact structures within the Orionid stream for over 1 kyr. Furthermore, an Orionid outburst in AD 585 recorded by China is confirmed.

Historical records of total solar eclipses provide vital information for computing the rotation of the Earth and understanding its long-term variations by providing data from the time before the modern measurements. While eclipses recorded around Eurasia and North Africa for millennia have been subjected to consideration in this context, eclipse records in the American continents have received little attention. In this study, we analysed the solitary observational record for a solar eclipse conducted by the ancient Maya on 16 July 790 in Julian calendar, recorded on the Stela 3 of Santa Elena Poco Uinic (N16°35′, W91°44′). This stela has an eclipse glyph and is associated with a total solar eclipse. Taking the up-to-date Earth rotation (ΔT) rate into account, our calculations locate this site slightly out of the totality path. The visibility of the total solar eclipse from Santa Elena Poco Uinic would require ΔT: 4074 s < ΔT < 4873 s. In comparison with the contemporary eclipse records, this yields a short-term increase in ΔT ≥ 800 s between 761 and 790 and a decrease in ΔT ≥ 300 s till to 873. Therefore, the total solar eclipse on 16 July 790 cannot be expected to have been visible from Santa Elena Poco Uinic, unlike what has been previously considered. We conclude that this stela probably records a partial solar eclipse of great magnitude (≈ 0.946) visible under favourable meteorological conditions or is based on hearsay from the southern coastal area.