[meteorite-list] Fireball Observed Over California

[Ron Baalke]

http://cams.seti.org/?utm_source=buffer&utm_campaign=Buffer&utm_content=buffer16db2 

Ames Research Center
CAMS
News blog:
 
[Image]
California fireball of 2013 October 22th at 19:54:03 local time (Oct 23 
at 02:54:03 UT), in a video compilation by Dave Samuels in Brentwood using 
a Watec 902H2 Ultimate camera with 12mm/f1.2 lens and the CAMS single-camera 
software.

2013, Oct 22 - A bright fireball was seen by many in the Bay Area this 
evening around 19:54 local time in California. Bryant Grigsby reported 
that it caught his attention by the shadows it cast on a wall in front 
of him. Karen Randall described it as green, fragmenting towards the end. 
At the College of San Mateo, Daryl Stanford said: "It started out bluish 
white, then turned green; and it finally seemed to spiral and fragment 
at the end." Indications are that this meteor ended over the ocean. Nevertheless, 
the CAMS records are being collected. The first in is that of station 
213 (Dave Samuels in Brentwood), shown in the picture above. The meteor 
left the field of view at the bottom, only the beginning part is shown. 
Keep tuned for a trajectory solution and updates.


[Image]
Update (Oct 23 1:30 am local time): The Sunnyvale station operated by 
Jim Albers caught the fireball on cameras 53, 11, 12, 152, 171 and 173! 
Camera 53 shows the beginning part of the trajectory (see picture above).

Combining the Sunnyvale camera 53 astrometry with results from the 213 
camera in Brentwood provides the following preliminary solution from 
triangulation (calculations by Peter Jenniskens, SETI Institute and NASA 
Ames Research Center, based on observations by CAMS project participants 
Dave Samuels and Jim Albers):

Meteor was first seen at 02:53:59.5 UT (19:53:59 local time) 
Entered Earth atmosphere with speed 17.3 km/s 
Trajectory came from the East. 
Arrived from a direction Right Ascension = 26.5 degree, Declination = 
+11.2 degrees, near the star o Piscium. 
First seen at 87.8 km altitude, at Lat = +37.636N, Long = 121.8092W. 
Trajectory was shallow: inclined by 19.5 degrees with horizontal. 
Was tracked by CAMS camera 213 down to 60.9 km at Lat = 37.6475N Long 
= 122.6466W. 
The meteoroid penetrated well below that. 
Meteoroid pre-atmospheric orbit had the following properties: 
low-inclined orbit: inclination = 3.8 degrees 
Short orbit: semi-major axis = 1.15 AU 
Low perihelion distance = 0.653 AU

According to Jenniskens, based on these preliminary results this was not 
a member of the Taurid shower, but likely a rock of asteroidal origin. 
Sadly, any surviving meteorites would have landed in the Pacific Ocean.