SmallAsteroidImpacts-Frequency-Bolide-20141114

On September 7, 2015, at about 08:40

local time Local time is the time observed in a specific locality. There is no canonical definition. Originally it was mean solar time, but since the introduction of time zones it is generally the time as determined by the time zone in effect, with daylight s ...

bolide A bolide is normally taken to mean an exceptionally bright meteor, but the term is subject to more than one definition, according to context. It may refer to any large crater-forming body, or to one that explodes in the atmosphere. It can be a ...

meteor appeared over Thailand and burned up approximately 100 km (62 mi) above the ground. The meteor briefly flared up producing a green and orange glow before disappearing without a sound of explosion and leaving a white smoke trail. The meteor was recorded by several

dashcam A dashboard camera or simply dashcam, also known as car digital video recorder (car DVR), driving recorder, or event data recorder (EDR), is an onboard camera that continuously records the view through a vehicle's front windscreen and sometimes ...

s during the morning rush hour in

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estima ...

, and sightings were also reported in Thai towns of

Kanchanaburi Kanchanaburi ( th, กาญจนบุรี, ) is a town municipality (''thesaban mueang'') in the west of Thailand and part of Kanchanaburi Province. In 2006 it had a population of 31,327. That number was reduced to 25,651 in 2017. The town ...

and

Nakhon Ratchasima Nakhon Ratchasima ( th, นครราชสีมา, ) is one of the four major cities of Isan, Thailand, known as the "big four of Isan". The city is commonly known as Korat (, ), a shortened form of its name. It is the governmental seat of ...

. The meteor was visible for about four seconds before fading out. As of September 8, 2015 no

strewn field The term strewn field indicates the area where meteorites from a single fall are dispersed. It is also often used for the area containing tektites produced by large meteorite impact.''Tektites in the geological record: showers of glass from the sky ...

has been found. The impact energy was the largest of 2015 at 3.9

kiloton TNT equivalent is a convention for expressing energy, typically used to describe the energy released in an explosion. The is a unit of energy defined by that convention to be , which is the approximate energy released in the detonation of a t ...

.Fireball and Bolide Reports
(JPL) The last impact this large was on 23 August 2014 over the Southern Ocean.

Identification

The object was initially believed to be FLOCK 1B-11 satellite which was due to burn in the atmosphere about that time or a crashing aircraft. However, because the object travelled in the direction opposite to the east–west axis of artificial satellites, it was identified by the Deputy Director of Thai National Astronomical Research Institute, Saran Poshyachinda, as "an asteroid" and as a

meteor A meteoroid () is a small rocky or metallic body in outer space. Meteoroids are defined as objects significantly smaller than asteroids, ranging in size from grains to objects up to a meter wide. Objects smaller than this are classified as micr ...

by the president of the Thai Astronomical Society Prapee Viraporn. The object was also identified as a meteor by the Chachoengsao Observatory astronomer Worawit Tanwutthibundit. Tanwutthibundit, who witnessed the event, estimated the object's speed at nearly 50 miles per second before disintegration. A similar explanation was suggested by the former member of

Hubble Space Telescope The Hubble Space Telescope (often referred to as HST or Hubble) is a space telescope that was launched into low Earth orbit in 1990 and remains in operation. It was not the first space telescope, but it is one of the largest and most versa ...

team, Phil Plait, who said that "it was almost certainly a good-sized rock burning up in our atmosphere". According to Plait, the object may have had a steep angle of entry. Sound from the meteor was reported in three districts of Kanchanaburi Province: Thong Pha Phum, Sai Yok and Si Sawat. Governor of Kanchanaburi Province Wan-chai Osukhonthip ordered police and

Sai Yok National Park Sai Yok National Park ( th, อุทยานแห่งชาติไทรโยค) is a List of national parks of Thailand, national park in Sai Yok District, Sai Yok district, Kanchanaburi Province, Thailand. The park, home to mountains, wa ...

rangers to search Wang Krachae and

Bong Ti Bong Ti ( th, บ้องตี้, ) is a village and ''tambon'' (subdistrict) of Sai Yok District, in Kanchanaburi Province, Thailand.Thaita ...

subdistricts in Sai Yok District for meteor debris. The

National Astronomical Research Institute of Thailand National Astronomical Research Institute of Thailand or NARIT is a research institute under the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation. Its main missions are to carry out, support, and promote the development of astronomy ...

gave a press release on 14 September, estimating that the meteor was about 3.5 metres in diameter with a mass of 66 tonnes, entering the atmosphere at 21 km/s and having maximum brightness at 29.3 km altitude. The impact energy was equivalent to 3.5 kilotonnes of TNT; its trajectory was 269.8 degrees, with an impact angle of 45.4 degrees. It also estimates that meteorite remnants may have fallen around the area of

Other 2015 bolide events in Thailand

A previous bolide event was recorded in Thailand on March 2, 2015, and was also seen in Bangkok. On 2 November 2015, a dramatic green fireball lit up the night sky over Thailand as it streaked past and exploded.Ny kæmpe ildkugle eksploderede over Bangkok
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Notes

References

External links

* {{2015 in space 2015 in Thailand 2015 in Bangkok Modern Earth impact events Meteoroids 2015 in space September 2015 events in Thailand