The January 26, 2001 fireball and implications for meteor video camera networks

A bright fireball was observed from central und southern Alberta in the early evening of January 25,2001 (January 26 UT). The event was recorded with three all-sky video cameras in and near Edmonton, on one video camera located in Calgary, and by many visual observers. Visual and taped observations indicate an agreement of a duration of 2 to 4 1/2 seconds. There were several reports of sonic booms. The peak brightness was comparable to the Full Moon. Analysis of all available data indicates that a meteorite fell near Big Valley, Alberta, although several field searches failed to recover any fragments. Improvements to equipment und methods of analysis will improve the chance of recovering meteorites in future using all-sky cameras and refined astrometric measurement techniques.