José M. Madiedo^a,b, José L. Ortiz^c, Josep M. Trigo-Rodríguez^d, Joan Dergham^d, Alberto J. Castro-Tirado^c, Jesús Cabrera-Caño^b, Pep Pujols^e

^aFacultad de Física. Departamento de Física Atómica, Molecular y Nuclear. Universidad de Sevilla, 4012 Sevilla, Spain
^bFacultad de Ciencias Experimentales. Universidad de Huelva, 21071 Huelva, Spain
^cInstituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía, CSIC, Apt. 3004, Camino Bajo de Huetor 50, 18080 Granada, Spain
^dInstitute of Space Sciences (CSIC-IEEC), Campus UAB, Facultat de Ciències, Torre C5-parell-2ª, 08193 Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain
^eGrup d’Estudis Astronòmics (GEA) and Agrupació Astronòmica d’Osona, Barcelona, Spain

We present the analysis of five bright fireballs observed over Spain and France between 2010 and 2012. Their absolute magnitude ranged between -9.0 and -11.5. Radiant and orbital data indicate that these events were associated with the Taurid meteoroid stream. Their trajectory in the atmosphere is calculated and the heliocentric orbit of the meteoroids is obtained. The emission spectra produced by three of these fireballs are also discussed, and the chemical nature of the parent impactors is inferred, together with different physical parameters of these particles such as the meteoroid mass and tensile strength. On the basis of these results, the ability of Taurid meteoroids to produce meteorites is discussed.

Reference
Madiedo JM, Ortiz JL, Trigo-Rodríguez JM, Dergham J, Castro-Tirado AJ, Cabrera-Caño J and Pujols P (in press) Analysis of bright Taurid fireballs and their ability to produce meteorites. Icarus
[doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2013.12.025]
Copyright Elsevier

Link to Article