No CrossRef data available.
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 14 August 2015
Recent theoretical concepts of large meteoroid entry into the atmosphere are compared and an evident lack of a theory applicable to all observed fireballs is found. A new empirical criterion separating different fireball groups according to structure and composition of their bodies and containing only values directly obtained by photographic observations is proposed. The complex semi-empirical approach is found to be the best approximation to reality we can achieve for all fireballs at the moment. The interpretation of the fireball differences assuming variations in structure and composition of their bodies is the most natural explanation of the observational facts.