Updated:2013-08-22

Meteorite Action!

2004-01-04 : Villalbeto de la Peña (Spain)

Spatial and Temporal Informations

Location of fall
Villalbeto de la Peña (Palencia, Spain)
Coordinates
42°48' N, -4°40' E
Date of fall
January 4, 2004 17h 46mn 45s ± 2s LT
January 4, 2004 16h 46mn 45s ± 2s UT
Initial velocity
16.9 ± 0.4 km/s
Start height of bolide
47 km
Start Coordinates
42°32'6" N, -5°2'42" E
Terminal height of bolide
22.2 km
Terminal Coordinates
42°50'36" N, -4°42'40" E
Fireball terminal velocity
7.8 ± 0.3 km/s
Trajectory slope (// horizontal)
29.0 ± 0.6 °
Ground path of the fireball
130 km

Video

Click on thumbnail or download
Luis A. Fernandez Arenas et Carmen Blanco Video - Leon/Spain
Video : Luis A. Fernandez Arenas et Carmen Blanco (Leon, Spain)

  • AVI (xvid) ( 240x180 ): 548 Ko
  • MPEG       ( 240x180 ): 485 Ko

Photo

Fireball taken from Las Oces de Valdeteja (Leon)

 
Credit: Salvador Diez
 Source: Spanish Fireball and Meteorite Recovery Network

details

 
Credit: Salvador Diez
 Source: Spanish Fireball and Meteorite Recovery Network

Fireball taken from Santa Columba de Curueño (León)

 
Credit: Maria M. Robles
 Source: Spanish Fireball and Meteorite Recovery Network

persistent trail

 
Credit: Jésus Martín
 Source: Spanish Fireball and Meteorite Recovery Network

The First pieces found

 
Credit: Dr. Javier Garcia Guinea (Museo Nacional Ciencias)
 21.76 and 42.03 grams found by Abel Tarilonte, a journalist on holiday in the region, January 10, 2010

Physical and kinetics Informations

Maximum absolute magnitude
-18 ( 28 km of height )
Pre-atmospheric mass of the meteoroid
600 ± 200 kg
Corresponding size (diameter)
0.8 m m
Kinetic energy
0.02 kt TNT
Total known weight (TKW)
5.2 kg (until 2005 )
33 fragments
Density
3.42 g cm-3
Cosmic-ray exposure age
48 ± 5 Million years

Orbital

Semimajor axis (a)
2.3 ± 0.2 UA
Inclination (i)
0.0 ± 0.2 °
Eccentricity (e)
0.63 ± 0.04
Longitude of ascending nodet (W)
283.6712 °
Argument of perihelion (w)
132.3 ± 1.5 °
Perihelion distance (q)
0.860 ± 0.007 UA
Aphelion distance (Q)
3.7 ± 0.4 UA
Orbital period (T)
3.5 ± 0.5 years
TXT_VUE_DESSUS
Vue parallele au grand axe
Vue parallele à la ligne des noeuds

Lien

IMCA
Our Favorite Chondrites, Part 2 - Story of main mass finding (see end)
February , 2007
Univers OVNI
When a UFO gives calculation's lesson. Full inquiry. Through this analysis, it was found a piece of 1.367 kg. Congratulation!
February 22, 2004
Spanish Photographic Meteor Network (SPMN)
A superberbolide crossing over peninsular Iberia in braod daylight, being filmed from several points in Spain
February 4, 2004
meteorite.be
Meteorite fall in Spain
January 28, 2004
Dutch Meteor Society (DMS)
Spectacular Daylight fireball over Spain
January 24, 2004
BBC news
Spain continues meteorite search
January 6, 2004
CNN
Hundreds report seeing fireballs fall from sky in Spain
January 5, 2004
TF1
On way of a giant fireball
January 5, 2004

Reference

The Villalbeto de la Peña meteorite fall: II. Determination of atmospheric trajectory and orbit
Josep M. TRIGO-RODRÍGUEZ, Jirí BOROVICKA, Pavel SPURNÝ, José L. ORTIZ, José A. DOCOBO, Alberto J. CASTRO-TIRADO, and Jordi LLORCA
Meteoritics & Planetary Science 45 (2006), pp. 505-517
The Villalbeto de la Peña meteorite fall: I. Fireball energy, meteorite recovery, strewn field, and petrography
Jordi LLORCA1, Josep M. TRIGO-RODRIGUEZ, José L. ORTIZ, José A. DOCOBO, Javier GARCIA-GUINEA, Alberto J. CASTRO-TIRADO, Alan E. RUBIN, Otto EUGSTER, Wayne EDWARDS, Matthias LAUBENSTEIN, and Ignasi CAS
Meteoritics & Planetary Science 40 (2005), pp. 795-804