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  • A catalog of video records ...
    Borovička, J.; Shrbený, L.; Kalenda, P.; Loskutov, N.; Brown, P.; Spurný, P.; Cooke, W.; Blaauw, R.; Moser, D. E.; Kingery, A.

    Astronomy and astrophysics (Berlin), 01/2016, Volume: 585
    Journal Article

    The Chelyabinsk superbolide of February 15, 2013, was caused by the atmospheric entry of a ~19 m asteroid with a kinetic energy of 500 kT TNT just south of the city of Chelyabinsk, Russia. It was a rare event; impacts of similar energy occur on the Earth only a few times per century. Impacts of this energy near such a large urban area are expected only a few times per 10 000 years. A number of video records obtained by casual eyewitnesses, dashboard cameras in cars, security, and traffic cameras were made publicly available by their authors on the Internet. These represent a rich repository for future scientific studies of this unique event. To aid researchers in the archival study of this airburst, we provide and document a catalog of 960 videos showing various aspects of the event. Among the video records are 400 distinct videos showing the bolide itself and 108 videos showing the illumination caused by the bolide. Other videos show the dust trail left in the atmosphere, the arrival of the blast wave on the ground, or the damage caused by the blast wave. As these video recordings have high scientific, historical, and archival value for future studies of this airburst, a systematic documentation and description of records is desirable. Many have already been used for scientific analyses. We give the exact locations where 715 videos were taken as well as details of the visible/audible phenomena in each video recording. An online version of the published catalog has been developed and will be regularly updated to provide a long–term database for investigators.