Date of Award
2010
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science
Program
Astronomy
Supervisor
Dr. Paul Wiegert
Abstract
The Fireball Retrieval on Survey Telescopic Image (FROSTI) project seeks to locate meteoroids on pre-existing sky survey images. Fireball detection systems, such as the University of Western Ontario’s ASGARD system, provide fireball state vector information used to determine a pre-contact trajectory. This trajectory is utilized to search databases of sky survey image descriptions to identify serendipitous observations of the impactor within the hours prior to atmospheric contact. Commonly used analytic methods for meteoroid orbit determination proved insufficient in modeling meteoroid approach, so I have developed a RADAU based gravitational integrator. I have also developed code to represent the description of an arbitrary survey image in a survey independent fashion, with survey specific plug-ins periodically updating a centralized image description catalogue. Pre-processing of image descriptions supports an innovative image search strategy that easily accounts for arbitrary object and
observer position and motion. Meteor event selection is described and search results are provided.
Recommended Citation
Clark, David L., "SEARCHING FOR FIREBALL PRE-DETECTIONS IN SKY SURVEYS" (2010). Digitized Theses. 4892.
https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/digitizedtheses/4892