Mechanical strength distribution in Geminid meteoroids derived via fireball modeling

0585058 - ASÚ 2025 RIV FR eng J - Journal Article
Henych, Tomáš - Borovička, Jiří - Vojáček, Vlastimil - Spurný, Pavel
Mechanical strength distribution in Geminid meteoroids derived via fireball modeling.
Astronomy & Astrophysics. Roč. 683, March (2024), č. článku A229. ISSN 0004-6361. E-ISSN 1432-0746
R&D Projects: GA ČR(CZ) GX19-26232X
Institutional support: RVO:67985815
Keywords : meteorites * meteors * meteoroids
OECD category: Astronomy (including astrophysics,space science)
Impact factor: 6.5, year: 2022
Method of publishing: Open access

This paper is devoted to fragmentation modeling of bright Geminid fireballs, which should reveal information about the structure of centimeter-sized Geminid meteoroids. These fireballs were observed by the European Fireball Network (EN) over the past few years. We aim to describe their disintegration cascade in the atmosphere and their mechanical properties, and to derive their precise initial masses and velocities. We used a semi-empirical fragmentation model that employs an automatic procedure based on parallel genetic algorithms to determine the aerodynamic pressures at which a meteoroid and its parts fragment. This serves as a proxy for the mechanical strength of the body and its subsequent fragments. It enabled us to derive the minimum, median, and maximum mechanical strength and the strength distribution inside the meteoroid and reveal its internal structure.
Permanent Link: https://hdl.handle.net/11104/0353235