[meteorite-list] Estimating distance and height ... was meteorite lands near Mt. Fuji Japan

[E. L. Jones]

Chris Peterson wrote:

>  In order for a much smaller object to persist to low height would 
> require a very unusual combination of conditions.

This was 20 years ago, this particular meteorite; Maryville,TN 1983, I 
observed coming in around 4 am in the morning so it had a high relative 
speed; a combination of Earth's velocity around the sun (15kps?)plus 
what ever approach speed the meteoroid had. The recoverd stone was very 
smooth and egg/bun shaped, with small area of secondary fussion crust 
confirming the sliver of surface ejected in the bolide terminus. Dr 
Larry Johnson at the University of Tennessee did the analysis and we had 
a good chat about our different prespectives.  I thought this extra high 
velocity might account for how the stone got so low before going 
"bolide".  I immediately pulled over the car and got out standing in 
awe.  When I did the quick calculations I remembered that I had my 
personal M2 compass with me which allowed a very accurate measurement of 
vertical angles--I unfortunately forgot that I had a camera somewhere 
buried in the car and failed to get a photograph of the cloud (sigh). I 
remember standing outside the car and looking up at a column of smoke 
going up what I know now to be 100-130-? miles high.

I forget my data but I think I remember the results being that the 
bolide itself was 400-800 meters wide, 3-4 times wider than the smoke 
trail,  about 3.6 to 4 miles(approx. 5.5-6 km) altitude (I believe this 
was corrected to sea level but the ground level was between 800-1100 ft 
and insignificant).  I was between 5-7 miles away , I'd have to consult 
a map again. My estimate was pretty good as I recall, some 10 years 
afterwards when I found the exact location of the recovery I checked 
it.  The meteorite itself was about 2 kg. It had to lose alot of mass 
coming down given the smoke trail it left.

Chris Peterson also asked:

> Can you describe the artillery observer methods that you used to 
> estimate the low height for the fireball you saw?

This is sort of dry technical but I'll try to lay out the procedure. 
This outlines a field expedient method of locating an event which has 
both visible and aural components --aka flash and bang.  At that time I 
was a tactics instructor at US Army Infantry School and an Expert 
Infantryman Badge holder-- there are some things so impressed by 
training they are second nature such as starting to count automatically. 

 This calculation relies on the "mil relation formula".  A circle can be 
divided into 6400 mils . There are 17.78 mils per degree. A distance 
between two points (diameter, height above ground, etc ) can be 
measured/estimated if one knows a distance and uses mil relation 
formula.  The mil relation formula states that a 1 mil arc will subtend 
1 meter at 1000 meters  or in other words  at 1 kilometer, 1 mil is 1 
meter wide-- at 2 kilometers it is 2 meters wide , at 10,000 meters or 
about 6.2 miles, 1 mil is 100 meters wide and so forth.

To estimate a distance or "range", when one sees a flash -- of 
lightening or in this case a bolide, immediately start counting seconds 
and/ or glancing at a watch to get the most accurate transit time 
--called flash-to-bang time.  Sound moves approx 350 meters per second. 
(330 meters/sec is also used by other than Military units)  Multiply the 
elasped seconds by 350 / 330 or 340 as a compromise, as you prefer, to 
get the distance in meters.

Mils are most accurately measured with an M2 compass or Aiming Circle 
(thedolite), however without one, there are techniques to estimate the 
mil angle (width). At arms length the index finger is 30 mils wide, the 
first two fingers closed 70, three 100, four 125 five closed 180, five 
spread 300 thumb and index in an "L" Index finger is 200 high thumb is 
125 wide. A lot of practice will let you know what your specific widths 
if you are extra skinny or like me have large hands (ahem).  So without 
getting a compass out one can make a quick estimate of size, height,  
etc.  Fifteen mils is about the closest accuracy one can achieve with 
fingers but you can use a pen/pencil, coin edge etc to get smaller 
measurements. This is a general and accepted standard with its inherent 
inaccuracies. You know the old saying " close only counts in horseshoes 
, hand grenades, and artillery"

If one wants to be prepared for fireball observations they can also sit 
in the driver's seat and sight the elevation and azimuth angles of top, 
bottom, sides of their windshield in halves, quarters, thirds etc --as 
they say "It is another technique".

Elton