Speaker
Description
Knowledge of the flux, composition, and physical characteristics of natural objects entering Earth’s atmosphere is critical for understanding Solar System formation and evolution [1], characterising the population of near-Earth objects (NEOs) [2], modelling atmospheric survivability [3], and linking meteorites to their source regions [4, 5]. The only comprehensive observational estimate of meteorite flux was produced several decades ago from a small number of photographic fireball observations [6]. Despite the subsequent expansion of digital networks, a unified, calibrated flux estimate for meteorite-producing fireballs remains absent.
The Global Meteor Network (GMN) provides continuous, standardised, multi-station fireball observations from over 1,600 CMOS video cameras across 45 countries (updated from [7]). Its low-cost, wide-field cameras run open-source software on Raspberry Pi computers. GMN observations have enabled meteor shower flux measurements, discovery of new showers, and analysis of meteorite-dropping fireballs, including successful meteorite recoveries [8–10]. However, its fireball dataset has not yet undergone consistent, large-scale reprocessing and physical interpretation.
We present a comprehensive analysis of GMN fireballs based on a newly compiled, uniformly reprocessed multi-station dataset. Using updated astrometric and photometric techniques, we re-measure trajectories, velocities, and fragmentation behaviour, and apply physical modelling to estimate terminal masses and meteorite survival potential. This provides the first consistent, large-scale characterisation of GMN fireballs suitable for statistical analysis.
We derive a calibrated flux of meteorite-producing fireballs, comparing our results with the major historical estimate [6] and subsequent studies [11–13]. These results provide new empirical constraints on meteoroid delivery to Earth and enable comparison with historical measurements and modern dynamical models. Linking meteorite types with orbital source regions also provides a pathway to testing models of Solar System formation and collisional evolution. The dataset establishes a foundation for future GMN studies of source regions and delivery pathways from asteroid-belt and cometary reservoirs.
References:
[1] Lauretta, D. S. and McSween, H. Y. eds. 2006. Meteorites and the early Solar System II. Arizona: University of Arizona Press.
[2] Borovička, J. and Spurný, P. 2020. Physical properties of Taurid meteoroids of various sizes. Planetary and Space Science 182. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pss.2020.104849.
[3] Egal, A., Vida, D., Colas, F., Zanda, B., Bouley, S., Steinhausser, A., Vernazza, P., et al. 2025. Catastrophic disruption of asteroid 2023 CX1 and implications for planetary defence. Nature Astronomy 9: 1624–1637. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-025-02659-8.
[4] Shober, P. M., Devillepoix, H. A., Vaubaillon, J., Anghel, S., Deam, S. E., Sansom, E. K., Colas, F., et al. 2025. Perihelion history and atmospheric survival as primary drivers of the Earth’s meteorite record. Nature Astronomy 9: 799–812. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-025-02526-6.
[5] Vaubaillon J., Neslušan L., Sekhar A., Rudawska R. and Ryabova G. O. 2019. From parent body to meteor shower: The dynamics of meteoroid streams. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
[6] Halliday, I., Blackwell, A. T. and Griffin, A. A. 1989. The Flux of Meteorites on the Earth's Surface. Meteoritics 24: 73–178. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1945-5100.1989.tb00959.x.
[7] Vida, D., Šegon, D., Gural, P. S., Brown, P. G., McIntyre, M. J. M., Dijkema, T. J., Pavletić, L., et al. 2021. The Global Meteor Network -- Methodology and First Results. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 506: 5046–5074. https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stab2008.
[8] Vida, D., Blaauw Erskine, R. C., Brown, P. G., Kambulow, J., Campbell-Brown, M. and Mazur, M. J. 2022. Computing optical meteor flux using global meteor network data. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 515: 2322–2339. https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stac1766.
[9] Vida, D., Scott, J. M., Egal, A., Vaubaillon, J., Ye, Q. Z., Rollinson, D., Sato, M. et al. 2024. Observations of the new meteor shower from comet 46P/Wirtanen. Astronomy & Astrophysics 682. https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202449359.
[10] Scott, J. M., Vida, D., Behan, D., Boothroyd, M. R., Burgin, D. L., Grieg, D., McKellar, P., et al. 2024. New Zealand’s meteor camera network leads to recovery of the Tekapo/Takapō meteorite.eMetN Meteor Journal 9: 155-158.
[11] Le Feuvre, M. and Wieczorek, M. A. 2008. Nonuniform cratering of the terrestrial planets. Icarus197: 291–306. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.icarus.2008.04.011.
[12] Evatt, G. W., Smedley, A. R. D., Joy, K. H., Hunter, L., Tey, W. H., Abrahams, I. D., Gerrish, L. 2020. The spatial flux of Earth’s meteorite falls found via Antarctic data. Geology 48: 683–687. https://doi.org/10.1130/G46733.1.
[13] Robertson, D., Pokorný, P., Granvik, M., Wheeler, L. and Rumpfet, C. 2021. Latitude Variation of Flux and Impact Angle of Asteroid Collisions with Earth and the Moon. The Planetary Science Journal 2: 88. https://dx.doi.org/10.3847/PSJ/abefda.