Howdy all
Last night an old, 2500 kg (~5500 lb!) Soviet satellite fell from orbit
over the eastern US. The resulting fireball traced a path from Ohio all the way
to Georgia, on a north-to-south and slightly westerly path. Eyewitnesses
reported the event over a similarly large area. ...and man oh man does it ever
show up on radar! The satellite broke up into dozens or hundreds of small,
angular metallic fragments which reflect radar pulses extremely well. Weather
radar shows the signatures of falling debris from central Ohio into Georgia.
http://www.galacticanalytics.com/cosmos-1484-deorbit-28-jan-2013-0228-utc/
It would be very difficult for us to accurately model the dark flight
of these fragments, as we don't know either their density or aerodynamic
properties. But it is entirely likely that pieces will be found somewhere along
the path of the satellite. Also, an eyewitness in Georgia reported sonic booms
associated with the falling object. This indicates that a large (very large?)
body or bodies may have landed in the vicinity of Atlanta.
Cheers,
Marc Fries, Rob Matson, Jake Schaefer and Jeff Fries
Galactic Analytics LLC
______________________________________________
Visit the Archives at http://www.meteorite-list-archives.com
Meteorite-list mailing list
Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com
http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
