Analysis of the 2016 June 2 bolide event over Arizona

Abstract

On June 2, 2016 at 10h56m UTC, a −20.4 ± 0.2 magnitude superbolide was observed over Arizona. Fragments were located a few days later and the meteorites were given the name Dishchii'bikoh. We present analysis of this event based on 3 cameras and a multi-spectral sensor observations by the SkySentinel continuous fireball-monitoring camera network, supplemented by a dash cam footage and a fragmentation model. The bolide began its luminous flight at an altitude of 100.2 ± 0.4 km at coordinates φ = 34.555±0.002°N planetographic latitude and λ = 110.459±0.002°W longitude, and it had a pre-atmospheric velocity of 17.4 ± 0.3 km/s. The calculated orbital parameters indicate that the meteoroid did not belong to any presently known asteroid family. From our calculations, the impacting object had an initial mass of 14.8 ± 1.7 metric tonnes with an estimated initial diameter of 2.03 ± 0.12 m.

Orbit and origin of theLL7 chondrite Dishchii'bikoh (Arizona)

“…An open circle marks the results of the combination of all stations, while the gray dot is the solution by Palotai et al. () from SACN data alone.…”

“…The results were validated by including the SACN data for the station Payson in the calculations (Palotai et al. ). This created independent solutions with convergence angles 14°–17° (Table ), but increased the random errors due to the poorer astrometric measurements from a lower image resolution (Fig.…”

“…During the meteor observation, it recorded at a rate of 50,000 Hz (Sandquist and Spalding ; Palotai et al. ).…”

“…Trajectory and orbit data based on the Flagstaff and Payson stations of SACN were published by Palotai et al. (). The fireball was also detected by the U.S. Government Satellite sensors (peak at 33.8°N, 110.9°W), from which a total radiated energy of 17.2 × 10 10 J was measured and an initial kinetic energy of 0.49 kT of TNT equivalent (website: https://cneos.jpl.nasa.gov/fireballs/, last accessed May 8, 2019).…”

Fragmentation modelling of the 2019 August impact on Jupiter

“…Aside from fragmentation described above, we also allow for the main body to break up into several discrete fragments, which are modelled as independent objects under the same principles, similar to Palotai et al (2019). We prescribe the mass of the fragment, location (i.e.…”