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  • PF131010 Ciechanów fireball...
    Olech, A; Żołądek, P; Wiśniewski, M; Rudawska, R; Laskowski, J; Polakowski, K; Maciejewski, M; Krzyżanowski, T; Fajfer, T; Tymiński, Z

    Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 12/2015, Volume: 454, Issue: 3
    Journal Article

    On 2010 October 13, the Apollo-type 20-m asteroid 2010 TB54 passed within 6.1 lunar distances from the Earth. On the same date, but 11.4 h earlier, exactly at 02:52:32 ut, the sky over central Poland was illuminated by the −8.6 mag PF131010 Ciechanów fireball. The trajectory and orbit of the fireball were computed using multi-station data from the Polish Fireball Network. The results indicate that the orbit of the meteoroid that caused the PF131010 fireball is similar to the orbit of asteroid 2010 TB54 and both bodies may be related. Moreover, 2 d before the appearance of the Ciechanów fireball, another small asteroid, 2010 SX11, passed close to the Earth–Moon system. Its orbit is even more similar to the orbit of the Ciechanów fireball's parent body than 2010 TB54. PF131010 Ciechanów entered Earth's atmosphere with a velocity of 12.9 ± 0.2 km s−1 and started to shine at a height of 82.5 ± 0.3 km. Clear deceleration started after the first 3 s of flight, and the terminal velocity of the meteor was only 5.8 ± 0.2 km s−1 at a height of 29.3 ± 0.1 km. Such a low terminal velocity indicates that fragments with a total mass of around 2 kg could survive the atmospheric passage and cause a fall of meteorites. The predicted area of possible meteorite impact is computed as being near Grabowo village south of Ostrołęka city.