The instrumentally recorded fall of the Križevci meteorite, Croatia, February 4, 2011

• Published in: Meteoritics & planetary science 2015-07, Vol.50 (7), p.1244-1259
• Main Authors: Borovička, J., Spurný, P., Šegon, D., Andreić, Ž., Kac, J., Korlević, K., Atanackov, J., Kladnik, G., Mucke, H., Vida, D., Novoselnik, F.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Cameras; Croatia; Fireballs; Fragmentation; Light curve; Meteorites; Meteoroids; Networks
• ISSN: 1086-9379; 1945-5100
• DOI: 10.1111/maps.12469

The Križevci H6 meteorite was recovered on the basis of fireball data obtained by the cameras of the Croatian Meteor Network. The fireball, which occurred on February 4, 2011, 23:20:40 UT, was also observed by meteor cameras in Slovenia and by the Autonomous Fireball Observatory in Martinsberg, Austria, which belongs to the European Fireball Network. Here, we present detailed data on fireball trajectory, velocity, deceleration, light curve, and orbit. We also modeled the atmospheric fragmentation of the meteoroid on the basis of the light curve and deceleration. The initial mass of the meteoroid was between 25–100 kg, most probably about 50 kg. Severe fragmentation occurred at heights of approximately 60 and 31 km, under dynamic pressures of 0.1 and 3 MPa, respectively. The peak absolute magnitude of −13.7 was reached during the second severe fragmentation event. The recovered 291 g meteorite was probably the only fragment with a terminal mass exceeding 100 g. The orbit had a low inclination of 0.6 degrees, perihelion distance 0.74 AU, and semimajor axis 1.54 AU. Križevci can be ranked among the 10 best documented meteorite falls.