1 March 2011: Every day about 100 tons of Meteoroiden--fragments of dust and gravel, and sometimes even large rock - enter the Earth's atmosphere. Under the stars for more than half an hour on a clear night out and probably see a few of the meteors produced by the onslaught. But where is all this stuff? Surprisingly, the answer is not known.
Now, NASA is deploying a network of intelligent cameras in the United States the question, what is beat to answer Earth?
Came, Meteor, which you have seen blazing through the sky last night of the asteroid belt? They created in a Comet was agony? Or was it a piece of space junk meeting a fiery demise?
"If I every morning and turn on my computer work, there is an email with answers," says William Cooke, Director of NASA's meteoroid environment Office. "And I have not a finger, to lift other than my mouse click."
Groups of smart cameras in the new Meteor network triangulated the fireballs paths, and special software1 uses the data to calculate their orbits and e-Mail Cooke his message tomorrow.
"" If someone calls me and asks ", what?" I will be able to tell them. "We have a record of any large meteoroid that nothing know the atmosphere of which certain parts of the United States is verglüht in this heaven without me!"
In other U.S. Meteor networks has someone manually the camera data and calculate the orbits - a painstaking process.
"With our network, our computer do it for us and quickly," says Cooke.
The network of the first three cameras, each about as big as a gumball machine, are already running. Cooke's team will be expanding soon 15 cameras East of the Mississippi River, with plans to the nationwide2 have provided. Cooke schools, science centers, and planetaria proactively seeks ready that host its cameras. Criteria are listed in the annex at the end of this story.
In addition to the tracking fireballs and their orbits system Cooke's gives him other valuable information.
"It provides data on Meteor speed as a function of the size - and this is crucial for the calibration of the models that we use when designing spacecraft."
Meteorite hunters are to benefit. By determining a bright fireball leading curve through the atmosphere can be calculated the network software, whether it plunging to the Earth and to identify the impact location almost exactly.
"And when we collect the meteorite pieces, we know their source." "I could in my hand a piece of the Vesta. 3 are operation it would be like a free sample return mission!"
Options, are however rare. "The most meteorites fall into the ocean, lakes, forests, farmer's fields or the Antarctic," says Rhiannon Blaauw, the Cooke. "And the majority of these meteorites are never found." "But our system will help us find more of them."
All cameras in the network send their fireball information Cooke and a public website, fireballs.ndc.nasa.gov. Teachers can William.J.Cooke@nasa.gov teacher workshop slides Cooke, contains proposals for teaching the data request contact. Can students learn plot fireball orbits and speeds, where the objects on the ground, as high in the atmosphere, which burn up the fireballs, etc..
Cooke gives this advice for students and others who want to try on their own Meteor:
"Go out on a clear night, lie flat on your back, and look upwards." It takes 30 to 40 minutes for your eyes light adapted are, so be patient. By you can just go up, you also Meteor strips with your peripheral see catch. "You need no special equipment – just your eyes."
A more task-forget not, check the website to find out what you missed!
Author: Dauna Coulter | Editor: Dr. Tony Phillips | Credit: Science@NASA
(1) Smart used Meteor network ASGARD (all sky and guided automatic real-time detection) software, developed at the University of Western Ontario with NASA and Canadian funding process data and perform the triangulation, the orbits and origins of the fireballs to determine. In the southern Ontario Meteor network, or SOMN, consisting of seven cameras, used the ASGARD system.
(2) The cameras will be made available in groups of 5. A group will be distributed on the South-Eastern United States, another in Ohio and Kentucky (the southern Ontario network or SOMN overlap Meteor) and a further set of data along the Atlantic coast in the North-East. "Our hope is that at least one of the three regions is clear sky at a given time."
Here are the criteria that must be met for a site as a digital camera site:
1. Position East of the Mississippi River
2. The clear horizon (some trees)
3. Some bright lights (none close to camera)
4. Fast Internet connection
(3) Of the meteorite is modified were from their trip, so there is no pristine sample, but Cooke says it's a good enough for you give basic properties of the non-volatile.
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