A potential meteorite-producing Taurid fireball observed in 2021
Abstract On 12 November 2021 a Taurid fireball with an absolute magnitude of -13 was recorded over Spain. This work presents the analysis of this impressive bolide, which penetrated the atmosphere till a remarkable low final height of about 25.1 km above the ground level. A non-zero mass was calculated at the ending point of the luminous trajectory, which means that this event would have produced a meteorite that fell on the ground. Despite the mass of the fragment being small, of around 6.5 g, this would confirm the possibility of Taurid meteorite survival, a debate that was initiated some years ago. The emission spectrum of this fireball is also discussed.
Authors
- J. M. Madiedo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0806-5194)
Institutions
- Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (ES)
- Universidad de Huelva (ES)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
- Published
- 2026-03-26
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stag570
- Primary Topic
- Astro and Planetary Science
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00