(meteorobs) 2012/02/01 TX Fireball Trajectory Solutions v1

[Jake S]

I have a few comments on your trajectory, particularly on this image:
http://www.mikesastrophotos.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/map4.jpg

I think your red/maroon colored trajectory is too far north. Based on
sonic boom arrival times to seismographs, the trajectory looks like it
will be between the dark green and red lines on that map.

>From the coordinates of : (31.99,-97.46), the meteor HAS to have
passed no more than 86 km distance at its closest point. Factoring in
altitude it must travel will reduce this further 86 =
sqrt(altitude^2+ground distance^2). Factoring in a reasonable mach
angle for the shockwave only slightly increases the distance. With all
this in mind, i think your red trajectory is possibly up to 20 km too
far north, at least near the starting point of that line, what that
shift will do to the endpoint i don't know. If i knew the velocity and
altitudes of the trajectory this could be refined i think.


On Tue, Feb 7, 2012 at 7:52 PM, Mike Hankey <mike.hankey at gmail.com> wrote:
> Thanks Pat. I would agree with a SE of Greenville location. Are you
> saying these guys found meteorites from this fireball already?
>
> On Tue, Feb 7, 2012 at 10:29 PM, Pat <pat_branch at yahoo.com> wrote:
>> Mike,
>> Here is a great meteor view which I have not seen until now. It was shot in Austin from the Joe's Crab Shack at 600 Riverside Dr. The angles should be easy to calculate accurately because the city skyline gives you some angle estimates. I posted a picture of exactly where the video was shot from in the Files section of this group.
>> The view was shot NNW between the two trees just off the balcony.
>> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8juQ_ld_G7U
>>
>> I still think it was SE of Greenville, but I am sure there were at least two large pieces that separated early. I have seen pictures of a team from the Austin Planetarium which I believe found some meteorites about 1 mile east of Edgewood TX at the corner of County Roads 3601 and 3604.
>> Pat
>>
>> --- In meteorobs at yahoogroups.com, Mike Hankey <mike.hankey at ...> wrote:
>>>
>>> Hello,
>>>
>>> I've been working on the trajectory for this fireball, but i've been a
>>> little discombobulated due to the mystery over Kevin's Hawley /
>>> Coleman camera location. A friend forward'd me what I believe to be
>>> the best location for Kevins camera and we suspect it is in coleman
>>> and not hawley.
>>>
>>> I am a lot happier with these solutions and want to share now that I'm
>>> more confident.
>>>
>>> I want to stress this is still just a v1 cut at the trajectories and
>>> the calculations are based on manual solving of the allsky images,
>>> which is an imperfect art form. So, this is probably wrong, but the
>>> best calculated guess with available information.
>>>
>>> I'm willing to share my values and KMZ with anyone who is interested
>>> and I would actually like to compare notes with someone to make sure I
>>> didn't make any major mis-calculations with regard to lat/long/az/el
>>> values.
>>>
>>> I will continue to work on this folding in good witness data.
>>>
>>> Here are the maps:
>>>
>>> http://www.mikesastrophotos.com/comets/2012-02-01-texas-fireball-trajectory-solutions/
>>>
>>> Thanks,
>>>
>>> Mike Hankey
>>> Freeland MD
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> meteorobs mailing list
>>> meteorobs at ...
>>> http://lists.meteorobs.org/mailman/listinfo/meteorobs
>>>
>>
>>
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