The \v{Z}\v{d}\'ar nad S\'azavou meteorite fall: Fireball trajectory, photometry, dynamics, fragmentation, orbit, and meteorite recovery

TL;DR

This paper provides a detailed analysis of the r nad Se1zavou meteorite fall, including trajectory, fragmentation, orbit, and recovery, based on high-quality observational data, offering one of the most accurate descriptions of this event.

Contribution

It presents a comprehensive, instrumentally supported analysis of the meteorite fall, including trajectory, fragmentation, and orbit, with precise predictions and successful meteorite recovery.

Findings

Meteorite entered at 21.89 km/s and fragmented at low dynamic pressure.

Three meteorites totaling 87 g were recovered near predicted locations.

The meteoroid's orbit was moderately eccentric with perihelion near Venus.

Abstract

We report a comprehensive analysis of the instrumentally observed meteorite fall \v{Z}\v{d}\'ar nad S\'azavou, which occurred in the Czech Republic on 9 December 2014 at 16:16:45-54 UT. The original meteoroid with an estimated initial mass of 150 kg entered the atmosphere with a speed of 21.89 km/s and began a luminous trajectory at an altitude of 98.06 km. At the maximum, it reached -15.26 absolute magnitude and terminated after an 9.16 s and 170.5 km long flight at an altitude of 24.71 km with a speed of 4.8 km/s. The average slope of the atmospheric trajectory to the Earth's surface was only 25.66{\deg}. Before its collision with Earth, the initial meteoroid orbited the Sun on a moderately eccentric orbit with perihelion near Venus orbit, aphelion in the outer main belt, and low inclination. During the atmospheric entry, the meteoroid severely fragmented at a very low dynamic pressure 0.016 MPa and further multiple fragmentations occurred at 1.4 - 2.5 MPa. Based on our analysis, so far three small meteorites classified as L3.9 ordinary chondrites totaling 87 g have been found almost exactly in the locations predicted for a given mass. Because of very high quality of photographic and radiometric records, taken by the dedicated instruments of the Czech part of the European Fireball Network, \v{Z}\v{d}\'ar nad S\'azavou belongs to the most reliably, accurately, and thoroughly described meteorite falls in history.