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Are some meteoroids rubble piles?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 March 2016

Jiří Borovička*
Affiliation:
Astronomical Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Fričova 298, CZ-25165 Ondřejov, Czech Republic email: jiri.borovicka@asu.cas.cz
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Abstract

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The possibility that some meteoroids in the size range 1 – 20 meters are rubble piles i.e. assembles of boulders of various sizes held together only by small van der Waals forces, is investigated. Such meteoroids are expected to start disrupting into individual pieces during the atmospheric entry at very low dynamic pressures of ~ 25 Pa, even before the onset of ablation. The heterogeneous bodies as Almahata Sitta (asteroid 2008 TC3) and Benešov are primary candidates for rubble piles. Nevertheless, by analyzing the deceleration, wake, and light curve of the Benešov bolide, we found that the meteoroid disruption started only at a height of 70 km under dynamic pressure of 50 kPa. No evidence for a very early fragmentation was found also for the Chelyabinsk event.

Type
Contributed Papers
Copyright
Copyright © International Astronomical Union 2016 

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