Updated:2013-08-22

Meteorite Action!

2003-03-26 : Park Forest (U.S.A)

Spatial and Temporal Informations

Location of fall
Park Forest (Illinois, U.S.A)
Coordinates
41°29'5" N, -87°40'45" E
Date of fall
March 26, 2003 23h 50mn LT
March 27, 2003 05h 50mn UT
Initial velocity
19.5 ± 0.3 km/s
Start height of bolide
82 km
Start Coordinates
41°7'48" N, -87°54' E
Terminal height of bolide
<18 km
Terminal Coordinates
41°27'36" N, -87°43'48" E
Trajectory slope (// horizontal)
29 °

Physical and kinetics Informations

Maximum absolute magnitude
-21.7 ( 28 km of height )
Pre-atmospheric mass of the meteoroid
11000 ± 3000 kg
Corresponding size (diameter)
2 m
Kinetic energy
0.5 kt TNT
Total known weight (TKW)
18 kg
Density
3.4 g cm-3

Orbital

Semimajor axis (a)
2.53 ± 0.19 UA
Inclination (i)
3.2 ± 0.3 °
Eccentricity (e)
0.680 ± 0.023
Longitude of ascending nodet (W)
6.1156 ± 0.0007 °
Argument of perihelion (w)
237.5 ± 1.6 °
Perihelion distance (q)
0.811 ± 0.008 UA
Aphelion distance (Q)
4.26 ± 0.38 UA

Reference

The orbit, atmospheric dynamics, and initial mass of the Park Forest meteorite
P. Brown, D. Pack, W. N. Edwards, D. O. Revelle, B. B. Yoo, R. E. Spalding and E. Tagliaferri
Meteoritics & Planetary Science 39 (2004), pp. 1781–1796