[meteorite-list] Updated Lorton trajectory

[Mike Hankey]

I guess this explains why it did so much damage?

On Wednesday, January 27, 2010, Rob Matson <mojave_meteorites at cox.net> wrote:
> Hi All,
>
> I finally received a good second image of the Lorton bolide smoke
> trail taken immediately after the fall (and before upper atmospheric
> winds distorted it). More importantly, the two images I have were
> taken from sufficiently different vantage points that a good 3D
> solution could be computed. (My early, somewhat hurried "first-cut"
> at the trajectory was based on only a single image, and a cobbling
> together of 50+ witness reports.) That first solution wasn't bad
> as far as the flight direction (NNE -> SSW); however, as steep as
> I made the entry angle, I didn't make it steep enough.
>
> The Lorton meteoroid entered at a surprisingly steep angle -- about
> 15 degrees from vertical! If upper atmospheric winds had been
> light, this would have made for a very tight strewnfield. But
> those winds were anything but light at the time of the fall. For
> instance, at 11-km altitude, the jet stream was over 90 knots!
> Even down at 5-km altitude, the wind was over 40 knots.
>
> So here are my new impact predictions as a function of mass.
> The distance and bearing columns are in miles and degrees,
> respectively, relative to the impact coordinates of the 308-gram
> mass:
>
> Mass   Longitude Latitude Distance Bearing
> -----  --------- -------- -------- -------
>  3 g    -77.1383  38.7130   4.05    77.9
> 10 g    -77.1635  38.7104   2.68    75.5
> 30 g    -77.1804  38.7077   1.75    74.0
> 100 g   -77.1976  38.7043   0.80    71.8
> 300 g   -77.2116  38.7007   -0-      N/A
>  1 kg   -77.2282  38.6965   0.94    252.1
>  3 kg   -77.2415  38.6923   1.72    250.2
> 10 kg   -77.2560  38.6874   2.57    249.0
>
> As before, these coordinates (when you connect the dots) trace
> out a curve of the estimated strewn field centerline. Unfortunately,
> the lightest (and presumably more numerous) fragments would have
> been windblown onto Ft. Belvoir. But there is still some room ENE
> of the doctor's office that is not on military land, and plenty
> of real estate in the "heavy direction" (WSW) if you're feeling
> lucky.  --Rob
>
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