Dynamic falling of the Chelyabinsk meteoroid: The sizes, radiation and destruction

Heading: 
Extragalactic Astronomy
1Chernogor, LF, 1Mylovanov, YB
1V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University, Kharkiv, Ukraine
Kinemat. fiz. nebesnyh tel (Online) 2021, 37(5):37-65
https://doi.org/10.15407/kfnt2021.05.037
Start Page: Dynamics and Physics of Solar System Bodies
Language: Ukrainian
Abstract: 

The purpose of the paper is to obtain refined height-time dependences of radiation intensity and mass of the Chelyabinsk meteoroid during the fall, to determine the size of the bolide and to build a model of destruction with an estimate of the parameters of fragment distribution by mass. The study of the impact of large celestial bodies on the environment is an urgent task for forecasting environmental consequences. To calculate the radiation intensity, the time dependence of the bolides brightness and E. Epic's empirical formula were used. The Stefan-Boltzmann law and M. Planck's formula were used for the model of radiation of a perfect black body in a limited range of wavelengths. A method was found to determine the size of the bolide according to published observations from the video recorder. When constructing the model of continuous crushing, an adapted equation of motion of individual fragments was used. Three types of distribution of fragments by masses were tested: logarithmically normal, power and uniform. As a result of numerical simulation, the contribution of radiation energy is determined. It is shown that 21 % of the kinetic energy of a meteoroid is spent on radiation. The changes of mass, height-time dependences of the bolide size and values of parameters for different distributions of fragments by weight are calculated. The diameter of the bolide head reached 2 km, and the length of the tail was 3.5—4 km. It is established that at the initial stage of motion the results of fragmentation describes the power law distribution, and in denser layers of the atmosphere is lognormal. The characteristics of the swarm of stone fragments that may have been followed were estimated behind the meteoroid. The length of the swarm reached 30 km, the maximum mass of the swarm was estimated at 400 tons, and the radiation energy was 0.6 % relative to the initial kinetic energy of the meteoroid.

Keywords: bolide, Chelyabinsk meteoroid, flash, fragments after mass, fragments cluster, perfect black body, Planck's formula, size of a bolide, Stefan-Boltzmann's law

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