Fireball over western Germany: precise trajectory determined with seismometers
On Sunday evening, a fireball caused a stir, visible over large parts of southwestern Germany. Its precise trajectory has now been determined.
Shot from a meteor camera
(Image: ALLSKY7 / Bernd Klemt – AMS76 Herkenrath/DE)
A research group from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) has calculated the trajectory of Sunday's meteorite using data from seismometers and determined a slight deviation from the analysis of the International Meteor Organization (IMO). The research institution announced this and thus also demonstrated how helpful the method is for analyzing such events. A dense network of seismic measuring stations in the Eifel region, which the KIT Geophysical Institute operates for seismological investigations there, was reportedly helpful. The analysis thus confirms that the meteoroid came from the west and first flew over Luxembourg and then the Eifel region before it fell in the Koblenz area. The determined trajectory deviates slightly from that of the IMO.
(Image:Â KIT)
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The fireball was visible in large parts of southwestern Germany and several neighboring countries on Sunday evening. The American Meteor Society, which operates its internet portal for this purpose, has since received more than 3000 reports, which come from southwestern and western Germany as well as France, Belgium, and the Netherlands. These also suggest a trajectory in which the object came from a more southerly direction than the KIT analysis now suggests. A fragment of the meteorite damaged the roof of a building in the Koblenz district of GĂĽls. Further fragments were discovered in the city at the mouth of the Moselle into the Rhine afterward.
Helpful Method
The research group now explains that their seismometers can register weak sound waves that go back to the pressure wave generated by a meteorite when it flies through the atmosphere: “The trajectory of the meteoroid can be reconstructed from the arrival times at different measuring stations.” Because there are many more such earthquake measuring stations than special meteor cameras, the path can be determined more precisely and, above all, faster. This is also important for quickly finding possible fragments before they have been exposed to the influences of the Earth's atmosphere for too long. These samples come from the history of the formation of our solar system and are therefore of great scientific value.
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It is not new that seismometers are suitable for tracking objects during a fast flight through the atmosphere. Just a few weeks ago, two researchers proposed using the devices specifically for searching for crashed space debris. Based on the sonic boom, they were able to track the path of a crashing orbital module of the Chinese space capsule Shenzhou-15 in near real-time on a trial basis. The research group from Karlsruhe now adds that the method is also suitable for determining the trajectory in the so-called dark flight phase, in which the meteor no longer glows. In addition, seismic measurements of sound waves are also “possible independently of daylight or clouds.”
(mho)
