Main parameters of meteoroid motion during the fall of the Chelyabinsk meteorite shower on February 15, 2013

A rapid method is proposed for determining a meteoroid’s trajectory in the Earth’s atmosphere and its height and velocity at individual points. The method is designed for use with video material (regardless of the motion speed of the video recorder) for daytime bolide events. Kinematic parameters are obtained for the superbolide event followed by the Chelyabinsk meteorite shower on February 15, 2013. The (geodetic) azimuth of the meteoroid’s trajectory in the Earth’s atmosphere is 283.39° ± 1.7° (or 101.09° ± 1.7° toward the radiant). The radiant altitude over the site with observations of the end of the first fragmentation phase is 20.5°. The geodetic coordinates of the beginning of the bolide phenomenon and the point of suspension of the radiating material at the end of the first fragmentation phase are (64°00′02.74″ ± 2.1′ east longitude; 54°30′54.66″ ± 3.0′ north latitude) and (61°11′01.88″ ± 1.6′ east longitude; 54°52′06.68″ ± 3.1′ north latitude), respectively. The atmospheric entry velocity is 19.29 ± 0.89 km s−1. The height of the start of the light emission is 102.4 km; those of the main fragmentation phases are 28.0 and 24.4 km. The calculated elements for the heliocentric orbit of the Chelyabinsk meteoroid are: Q = 2.66 ± 1.20 AU, q = 0.73 ± 0.01 AU, a = 1.67 ± 0.10 AU, e = 0.57 ± 0.03, i = 7.07° ± 0.54°, Ω = 326.42°, and ω = 106.28° ± 2.54°. These parameters are compared with the results obtained by other authors.