 Sky photo with the Earth-grazing meteoroid of 13 October 1990, as the faint near-vertical track just to the right of the pole star, taken at Červená hora, Czechoslovakia. | |
| Date | 13 October 1990 |
|---|---|
| Time | 03:27:16±3 UT |
| Duration | 9.8 seconds[1] |
| Location | Czechoslovakia, Poland |
| Coordinates | 49°03′00″N 17°39′00″E / 49.050°N 17.650°E (begin) 52°40′59″N 17°04′01″E / 52.683°N 17.067°E (end) |
| Type | Ordinary chondrite |
| First reporter | Petr Pravec, Pavel Klásek, Lucie Bulíčková |
| Filmed by | European Fireball Network |
On 13 October 1990, meteoroid EN131090, with an estimated mass of 44 kg, entered the Earth's atmosphere above Czechoslovakia and Poland and, after a few seconds, returned to space. Observations of such events are quite rare; this was the second recorded using scientific astronomical instruments (after the 1972 Great Daylight Fireball) and the first recorded from two distant positions, which enabled the calculation of several of its orbital characteristics. The encounter with Earth significantly changed its orbit and, to a smaller extent, some of its physical properties (mass and structure of its outer layer).