Meteoritics & Planetary Science 48, Nr 10, 1757–1779 (2013)
doi: 10.1111/maps.12078

The Kosice meteorite fall: Atmospheric trajectory, fragmentation, and orbit

Jiri BOROVICKA¹, Juraj TOTH², Antal IGAZ³, Pavel SPURNY¹, Pavel KALENDA⁴, Jakub HALODA⁵, Jan SVOREN⁶, Leonard KORNOS², Elizabeth SILBER^7,8, Peter BROWN^7,8, and Marek HUSARIK⁶

¹Astronomical Institute, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Ondrejov, CZ-25165 Czech Republic
²Faculty of Mathematics, Physics and Informatics, Comenius University, Mlynska dolina, Bratislava, SK-84248 Slovakia
³Hungarian Astronomical Association, MCSE, Pf. 148, 1300 Budapest, Hungary
⁴Institute of Rock Structure and Mechanics, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, V Holesovickach 41, Praha 8, CZ-18209 Czech Republic
⁵Czech Geological Survey, Geologicka 6, Praha 5, CZ-15200 Czech Republic
⁶Astronomical Institute, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Tatranska Lomnica, SK-05960 Slovakia
⁷Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario N6A3K7, Canada
⁸Centre for Planetary Science and Exploration, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario N6A 5B7, Canada

Abstract. The Kosice meteorite fall occurred in eastern Slovakia on February 28, 2010, 22:25 UT. The very bright bolide was imaged by three security video cameras from Hungary. Detailed bolide light curves were obtained through clouds by radiometers on seven cameras of the European Fireball Network. Records of sonic waves were found on six seismic and four infrasonic stations. An atmospheric dust cloud was observed the next morning before sunrise. After careful calibration, the video records were used to compute the bolide trajectory and velocity. The meteoroid, of estimated mass of 3500 kg, entered the atmosphere with a velocity of 15 km s^-1 on a trajectory with a slope of 60° to the horizontal. The largest fragment ceased to be visible at a height of 17 km, where it was decelerated to 4.5 km s^-1. A maximum brightness of absolute stellar magnitude about –18 was reached at a height of 36 km. We developed a detailed model of meteoroid atmospheric fragmentation to fit the observed light curve and deceleration. We found that Kosice was a weak meteoroid, which started to fragment under the dynamic pressure of only 0.1 MPa and fragmented heavily under 1 MPa. In total, 78 meteorites were recovered in the predicted fall area during official searches. Other meteorites were found by private collectors. Known meteorite masses ranged from 0.56 g to 2.37 kg. The meteorites were classified as ordinary chondrites of type H5 and shock stage S3. The heliocentric orbit had a relatively large semimajor axis of 2.7 AU and aphelion distance of 4.5 ± 0.5 AU. Backward numerical integration of the preimpact orbit indicates possible large variations of the orbital elements in the past due to resonances with Jupiter.

______________________________

back to the list of publications

next abstract
previous abstract