Orbit, meteoroid size, and cosmic ray exposure history of the Aguas Zarcas <scp>CM2</scp> breccia
Abstract The Aguas Zarcas (Costa Rica) CM2 carbonaceous chondrite fell during nighttime in April 2019. Security and dashboard camera videos of the meteor were analyzed to provide a trajectory, light curve, and orbit of the meteoroid. The trajectory was near vertical, 81° steep, arriving from an ~109° (WNW) direction with an apparent entry speed of 14.6 ± 0.6 km s −1 . The meteoroid penetrated to ~25 km altitude (5 MPa dynamic pressure), where the surviving mass shattered, producing a flare that was detected by the Geostationary Lightning Mappers on GOES‐16 and GOES‐17. The cosmogenic radionuclides were analyzed in three recovered meteorites by either gamma‐ray spectroscopy or accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS), while noble gas concentrations and isotopic compositions were measured in the same fragment that was analyzed by AMS. From this, the pre‐atmospheric size of the meteoroid and its cosmic ray exposure age were determined. The studied samples came from a few cm up to 30 cm deep in an object with an original diameter of ~60 cm that was ejected from its parent body 2.0 ± 0.2 Ma ago. The ejected material had an argon retention age of 2.9 Ga. The object was delivered most likely by the 3:1 or 5:2 mean motion resonances and, without subsequent fragmentation, approached the Earth from a low i < 2.8° inclined orbit with a perihelion distance q = 0.98 AU close to the Earth's orbit. The steep entry trajectory and high strength resulted in deep penetration in the atmosphere and a relatively large fraction of surviving mass.
Authors
- Gerardo J. Soto (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3038-3172)
- Marc W. Caffee (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6846-8967)
- David Nesvorný (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4547-4301)
- K. C. Welten (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8577-6753)
- M. E. I. Riebe (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2098-9587)
- Carolina Salas Matamoros
- Gabriel Gonçalves Silva (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4109-6056)
- Qing‐Zhu Yin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4445-5096)
- Clemens E. Tillier
- Rafael Sfair (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4939-013X)
- H. Busemann (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0867-6908)
- K. Ziegler (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7221-0803)
- M. E. Sanborn (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3218-1195)
- Jim Albers
- Pilar Madrigal (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2089-0560)
- Darrel Robertson (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4534-1189)
- D. C. Mourão (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9555-8143)
- L. A. J. Garvie (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2038-3435)
- O. C. Winter (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4901-3289)
- Peter Jenniskens (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4735-225X)
- Oscar H. Lücke (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9712-6608)
- Matthias Laubenstein (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5390-4343)
- Tatiana Ballestero
- Paulo Ruiz Cubillo
Institutions
- Ames Research Center (US)
- Lockheed Martin (United States) (US)
- Space Science Institute (US)
- Planetary Science Institute (US)
- Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (IT)
- University of New Mexico (US)
- Universidade de São Paulo (BR)
- Purdue University West Lafayette (US)
- Observatoire de Paris (FR)
- Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso (IT)
- Universidad de Costa Rica (CR)
- ETH Zurich (CH)
- Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (US)
- Laboratoire d’études spatiales et d’instrumentation en astrophysique (FR)
- Arizona State University (US)
- University of California, Davis (US)
- Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (US)
- Universidade Estadual Paulista (Unesp) (BR)
- University of California, Berkeley (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Meteoritics and Planetary Science
- Published
- 2025-03-29
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1111/maps.14337
- Citations
- 1
- Primary Topic
- Astro and Planetary Science
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 1.15
Funders
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration