Canadian Camera Network

What detectors were used to record meteors?

Observations of fireballs (meteors that produced visible light) were recorded for
eleven years (1974-1985) by the Canadian camera network. The photo to the right
shows one of the camera stations that recorded these events. The network included 12
of these stations spread over southwestern Canada. At least two stations are needed
to observe a fireball at the same time in order to determine its height and velocity at
different points along its path.

How much data was collected?

The clear-sky coverage recorded for each night over eleven years was
1.51 x 1010 km2 hr. This is equivalent to 30 hr of observation over the
entire surface of the Earth. The sample that was collected was then
scaled up in order to estimate how many such events occur over an
entire year. These estimates are shown in the table to the right.

What does a photo of a meteor show?

The photograph below is of a bright fireball, not as bright as several other events, but unusually long because
the object entered the atmosphere at a very shallow angle to the horizon.

The photo represents the final 13.5 s of its flight when the meteor was giving off visible light. The camera
captured 4 images a second. The meteor entered the camera’s field of view on the left at a height of 58 km
and a velocity of 14 km/s.  When the meteor reached a height below 34 km toward the middle of the photo
there is evidence of separate fragments. The trail fades out near a height of 25 km as it slows to a velocity of
 5.2 km/s.

How is the size of the meteor determined from such photos?

The amount of light given off by a meteor is a function of the amount of heat it is producing. Since this is
related to both its speed and surface area, the researchers of this study were able to estimate its diameter as
well as the diameter of the other meteors recorded by the network. Since most meteors are rocky, the

openscied.org Lesson 2 • 1/6/23 Page 1

researchers used that assumption (a density of 3.5 g/cm3) to calculate an estimated mass for every meteor
recorded as well. With such assumptions, this meteor would have had an initial mass of 120 kg before
reaching the atmosphere and would have produced a largest surviving mass fragment of 13 kg.

openscied.org Lesson 2 • 1/6/23 Page 2