Problems of videorecords processing of bright bolides and falling space vehicle remnants detected with the low-sensitive home video cameras in bad observational conditions

Abstract

We present the method for kinematic and photometric processing of results of single-station video observations of a unique bright fireball (bolide or space vehicle remnant) carried out in bad observational conditions. Due to the low sensitivity of the video camera, lots of star-shaped artifacts in the camera detector on the one hand, and the bright Moon of -10.95 mag, which was directly in the camera field of view on the other, the star images were completely absent in all the frames. It is demonstrated that using the averaging and summing algorithms applied to the whole set of frames and the display of different dynamic layers of intensity allowed us to find and identify 45 reference stars, the faintest of which were of 5.4…5.7 mag. Due to the visibility of the point of closest approach of the object trajectory to an observer, which corresponds to the maximum angular velocity, in the camera field of view and the performed modeling, we obtained the next data about the fireball from the single-station detection after the video processing. The fireball fall lasted longer than 12 seconds, the angular length of the trajectory exceeded 60 deg, maximum angular velocity was computed as 7.4 deg/sec. It was shown that the space body in the point of maximal approach could lose near 32 percent of its initial velocity. Visibility of the maximal approach point allowed us to calculate the right ascension and declination of the visible radiant as 272.0 and -0.8 deg, respectively. The luminosity of the fireball was varying in the range of -5.5 to -8.5 mag. All the calculations performed did not allow us to unambiguously identify the fireball as a meteoroid or as a cosmic debris fragment.