A deep-penetrating fireball produced by an asteroidal meteoroid

Abstract

Very bright deep-penetrating fireballs deserve special attention, since these events may give rise to meteorites. Thus, although most meteoroids impacting our atmosphere ablate completely, some fireball events may produce, under favourable conditions, a non-zero terminal mass. The identification of the parent bodies in the Solar System of these meteoroids is of a paramount importance in meteor science, since this allows establishing the likely sources of these materials. For this purpose a continuous monitoring of meteor and fireball activity over Spain and neighbouring areas is being performed in the framework of the SPanish Meteor Network (SPMN). In addition, meteor spectroscopy can provide chemical information about meteoroids ablating in the atmosphere. With this aim, the SMART project was developed (acronym for Spectroscopy of Meteoroids in the Atmosphere by means of Robotic Techniques). This work focuses on the preliminary analysis of a deep-penetrating sporadic fireball event recorded over the south of Spain on Dec. 5, 2013. Its emission spectrum is also presented. The likely source of the meteoroid is discussed on the basis of an orbital analysis.