Fireball network camera
A fireball network camera is an automated sky camera that records fireballs, timing them precisely for tracking.
A fireball network camera is an automated camera, usually with a fish-eye lens covering the whole sky, set up to record every bright meteor that crosses it. Modern cameras use digital sensors and record video or long exposures with a timing method, such as a shutter that opens and closes rapidly, that chops the meteor trail into segments, allowing its speed to be measured.
The cameras are housed in weatherproof enclosures and controlled by computers that detect meteors automatically and send data to a central server. Several such networks operate worldwide, including the long-running European Fireball Network, the Desert Fireball Network in Australia and UK networks of amateur and professional cameras.
When two or more cameras capture the same fireball, software calculates its trajectory and orbit. If a meteorite is likely to have survived, teams are alerted with a search area. Camera networks have led to the recovery of dozens of meteorites with known orbits.
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