Near-Earth asteroid 2014 AA entered the Earth's atmosphere on 2014 January 2, only 21 hours after being discovered by the Catalina Sky Survey. In this paper we compute the trajectory of 2014 AA by combining the available optical astrometry, seven ground-based observations over 69 minutes, and the International Monitoring system detection of the atmospheric impact infrasonic airwaves in a least-squares orbit estimation filter. The combination of these two sources of observations result in a tremendous improvement in the orbit uncertainties. The impact time is 3:05 UT with a 1σ uncertainty of 6 min, while the impact location corresponds to a west longitude of 44.7 • and a latitude of 13.1 • with a 1σ uncertainty of 140 km. The minimum impact energy estimated from the infrasound data and the impact velocity result in an estimated minimum mass of 22.6 t. By propagating the trajectory of 2014 AA backwards we find that the only window for finding precovery observations is for the three days before its discovery.
The Saric ßic ßek howardite meteorite shower consisting of 343 documented stones occurred on September 2, 2015 in Turkey and is the first documented howardite fall. Cosmogenic isotopes show that Saric ßic ßek experienced a complex cosmic-ray exposure history, exposed during~12-14 Ma in a regolith near the surface of a parent asteroid, and that añ 1 m sized meteoroid was launched by an impact 22 AE 2 Ma ago to Earth (as did one-third of all HED meteorites). SIMS dating of zircon and baddeleyite yielded 4550.4 AE 2.5 Ma and 4553 AE 8.8 Ma crystallization ages for the basaltic magma clasts. The apatite U-Pb age of 4525 AE 17 Ma, K-Ar age of~3.9 Ga, and the U,Th-He ages of 1.8 AE 0.7 and 2.6 AE 0.3 Ga are interpreted to represent thermal metamorphic and impact-related resetting ages, respectively. Petrographic; geochemical; and O-, Cr-, and Ti-isotopic studies confirm that Saric ßic ßek belongs to the normal clan of HED meteorites. Petrographic observations and analysis of organic material indicate a small portion of carbonaceous chondrite material in the Saric ßic ßek regolith and organic contamination of the meteorite after a few days on soil. Video observations of the fall show an atmospheric entry at 17.3 AE 0.8 km s À1 from NW; fragmentations at 37, 33, 31, and 27 km altitude; and provide a pre-atmospheric orbit that is the first dynamical link between the normal HED meteorite clan and the inner Main Belt. Spectral data indicate the similarity of Saric ßic ßek with the Vesta asteroid family (V-class) spectra, a group of asteroids stretching to delivery resonances, which includes (4) Vesta. Dynamical modeling of meteoroid delivery to Earth shows that the complete disruption of ã 1 km sized Vesta family asteroid or a~10 km sized impact crater on Vesta is required to provide sufficient meteoroids ≤4 m in size to account for the influx of meteorites from this HED clan. The 16.7 km diameter Antionia impact crater on Vesta was formed on terrain of the same age as given by the 4 He retention age of Saric ßic ßek. Lunar scaling for crater production to crater counts of its ejecta blanket show it was formed~22 Ma ago.A field expedition to the area was conducted by the
Simulations of asteroid airburst are being conducted to obtain best estimates of damage areas and assess sensitivity to variables for asteroid characterization and mitigation efforts. The simulations presented here employed the ALE3D hydrocode to examine the breakup and energy deposition of asteroids entering the Earth's atmosphere, using the Chelyabinsk meteor as a test case. This paper examines the effect of increasingly complex material models on the energy deposition profile. Modeling the meteor as a rock having a single strength can reproduce airburst altitude and energy deposition reasonably well but is not representative of real rock masses (large bodies of material). Accounting for a yield curve that includes different tensile, shear, and compressive strengths shows that shear strength determines the burst altitude. Including yield curves and compaction of porous spaces in the material changes the detailed mechanics of the breakup but only has a limited effect on the burst altitude and energy deposition. Strong asteroids fail and create peak energy deposition close to the altitude at which ram dynamic pressure equals the material strength. Weak asteroids, even though they structurally fail at high altitude, require the increased pressure at lower altitude to disrupt and disperse the rubble. As a result, a wide range of weaker asteroid strengths produce peak energy deposition at a similar altitude.
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