Evidence of Eta Aquariid outbursts recorded in the classic Maya hieroglyphic script using orbital integrations

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.