Fireball is free software to calculate the atmospheric trajectory and heliocentric orbit of meteoroids. The trajectory is presumed linear and the Earth spherical.
In order to calculate atmospheric trajectory and orbit of meteoroids, Fireball needs:
1- Data and hour (Universal Time) of the observed fireball
2- Geographical location of two observer that observed the same fireball
3- Equatorial coordinates of two trajectory points from observer number 1
4- Equatorial coordinates of two trajectory points (not the same of observer 1) from observer number 2
5- Duration of the fireball from the two observers
Press the button <Trajectory> to calculate atmospheric trajectory. The file "Trajectory.txt", with all the data, will be written in the Fireball folder. The most important data are written also at the bottom of the window dialog.
Check the resulting mean velocity value. If you want an orbit for this velocity value press the button <Orbit> otherwise put a new value and press. The file "Orbit.txt" with all the data will be written in the Fireball folder.
Correction applied to atmospheric velocity to obtain eliocentric value:
- Earth's rotation
- Diurnal aberration
- Terrestrial gravitation
- Earth's orbital motion
No correction for atmospheric deceleration.
