Fireball in the Andes: first potential meteorite fall detected by the FRIPON network between Argentina and Chile.
Only one year after installing the FRIPON network cameras in Chile and Argentina, the first probable fall of a meteorite has been detected. On July 11th at 00h36m UT, a bright fireball appeared simultaneously on the Santiago (CHI) and Mendoza (ARG) cameras. The estimated trajectory straddles the Andes mountains.
On the night of 10 July 2024, at approximately 20:30 local time, people located in the Andes Mountains between Santiago and Mendoza likely had the unexpected rare chance to observe a very bright shooting star (bolide) illuminating the dark skies. We know this thanks to the confirmed multiple detection achieved with the FRIPON cameras installed in Santiago de Chile and Mendoza, Argentina, at the instant 2024-07-10 00:36:46 UTC.
Images of the fireball on 10 July 2024 at the FRIPON Santiago camera (left) and Mendoza camera (right).
Source: FRIPON.
The FRIPON network is a worldwide network of "fisheye" or all-sky cameras devoted to observe and track fireball trajectories. The collected data allows to statistically estimate how much extraterrestrial matter - particles ranging from a few millimeters to a few meters - is falling on Earth. For those pieces that survive the atmospheric entry, FRIPON estimates the fall zone allowing the recovery of the surviving meteorite in a short time. These unique fresh samples are used to study the distribution of dust and rock material in the Solar System, which are debris from the formation of the Sun and planets.
Detection on 10 July 2024 made by the FRIPON cameras
Analysis of the data provided by the FRIPON cameras has established that the fireball emitted its brightness when the body was between 85 and 25 km above the surface. Its initial measured speed was 18 km/s (about 64,800 km/h) and due to atmospheric friction, its speed was substantially reduced to just 6 km/s (21,600 km/h). This data indicates, with a high probability, that fireball material survived to this first part of its trajectory, allowing it to reach the ground after a final path without light emission (dark flight) and becoming a meteorite.
The brightness of the bolide saturated the cameras for a couple of seconds out of the five seconds in total that the luminous event lasted. Photometric measurements indicate that the meteor exceeded an absolute magnitude of -9. For reference, the brightness of the full Moon at the zenith on the same logarithmic scale is -12.
Light curve of the fireball observed by the FRIPON cameras in Santiago de Chile (CHI) and Mendoza (ARG), which are part of FRIPON-ANDINO. Source: FRIPON.
Preliminary estimates indicate that the meteorite would have a mass of about 1 kg and a size of about 10 cm. The impact area is located near the border between Argentina and Chile in the high Andes mountains close to Volcano San José, which together with the current winter conditions makes an immediate search very difficult.
Calculations of the meteoroid's orbit before falling to Earth indicate that the body from which it originated had an orbit contained within the ecliptic, i.e. coplanar with the planets of the Solar System, and its greatest distance from the Sun (apogee), was about 4.375 astronomical units, at the outermost parts of the main asteroid belt.
Additional details can be reviewed at the following links: https://fireball.fripon.org/displaymultiple.php?id=22924
Map of the fireball observed on 10 July 2024 by the cameras of the FRIPON-ANDINO network.
Credits: Google Earth and FRIPON.
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