[meteorite-list] COSMOS 1484 deorbit seen on radar!

From: Marc Fries <chief_scientist_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Mon, 28 Jan 2013 18:59:35 -0800
Message-ID: <19E91CBC-9034-47DA-A186-E8E3425CEA07_at_galacticanalytics.com>

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
Received on Mon 28 Jan 2013 09:59:35 PM PST


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