Cooke, Bill

Moser, Danielle

NASA Technical Reports Server

MICHIGAN FIREBALL OF 
JANUARY 17, 2018 
BILL COOKE AND DANIELLE MOSER
NASA METEOROID ENVIRONMENT OFFICE
WILLIAM.J.COOKE@NASA.GOV
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=20180003502 2019-08-31T15:52:37+00:00Z
BASIC OVERVIEW
• Occurred on January 17, 2018 at 01:08:30 UTC (2018 January 
17 7:08:30 PM CST)
• Over 600 eyewitness accounts
• Caught on security and dash cameras throughout the region
• Detected by the NASA all sky meteor camera at Oberlin 
College
• Superbolide class event (superbolides have a magnitude of  -
17 or brighter, in between the Full Moon and Sun in 
brightness) American Meteor Society (AMS) observer heat map

Toledo
Windsor, ON

Rochester Hills

Speed – 15 km/s
Start height (video) – 86 km
End height (video) – 18 km
Very steep entry angle – 22°
from vertical
WHAT WE 
KNOW

Light curve
MANUAL TPFM MODEL FIT
Diameter = 68 cm
Strength = 2.7 Mpa
Bulk density = 3700 kg m-3
Mass = 609 kg
KE = 16.4 tons TNT
MCMC TPFM RESULTS
RINF: 0.311 - -0.020 + 0.039 (meters)
VINF: 14.904 - -0.006 + 0.004 (km/s)
ZR: 22.479 - -0.003 + 0.008 (degrees)
NUMBMAX: 256.000 - 0.000 + 0.000
SFINF: 1.209 - -0.005 + 0.007
MU: 0.667 - -0.008 + 0.007
POR CLASS: 1 (ordinary chondrite)
STRMOD: 1.267 - -0.171 + 0.140
TSTROVER: 2.583e+06 - -6.071e+05 + 
1.230e+06 (Pascals)
SIGMA_HEIGHT: 1.125 - -0.070 + 0.082 
(km)
SIGMA_MAG: 1.260 - -0.184 + 0.168 
(magnitude)
INFRASOUND AND SEISMIC SIGNATURE
Energy upper limit of 50 tons TNT; nominal close to 10 tons TNT Event caused a magnitude 2 tremor
Dark flight
calculations
Doppler radar signature of falling meteoritic dust
METEORITE FINDS
GLM DATA
Courtesy Kevin McGrath

GLM level 2 match to light curve


Michigan Fireball of January 17, 2018

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