How do scientists use photographs from multiple locations to calculate a meteoroid’s orbit?

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Meteor and meteoroid The Cabin Creek meteorite, an iron (nickel-iron alloy) meteorite that was observed to fall in northwestern Arkansas on March 27, 1886. Its characteristic pattern of “thumbprint” dimples, or regmaglypts, is the result of melting and consequent ablation of its surface as it traveled through the atmosphere. The meteorite is likely a fragment of one of the M class asteroids, which show significant nickel-iron in their surface material.

To calculate a meteoroid’s orbit, scientists use data from multiple, well-separated observation stations to perform triangulation. By documenting the same meteor from different locations, observers can determine its coordinates and estimate its radiant—the direction from which the meteoroid originated in space.1

However, determining the orbit also requires calculating the meteoroid's speed. This is achieved using specialized astronomical cameras equipped with rotating shutters. These shutters interrupt the light hitting the photographic plate at a known rate, creating breaks in the meteor's streak. By measuring these breaks and the meteor's trajectory relative to the background stars, scientists can precisely calculate the object's velocity.1

When this speed data is combined with the positional information gathered from two or more stations, researchers can accurately reconstruct the meteoroid's path and calculate its orbit prior to its encounter with Earth’s atmosphere.1