Deceleration of Faint Photographic Meteors and the Density of Meteoroids

The authors have performed mathematical modeling of observed deceleration of faint photographic meteors, and their heights of disappearance, in the framework of a simplified theory of quasicontinuous crushing of meteoroids. This modeling has enabled them to estimate the density of the parent meteoroids and the mass of large fragments. Out of 92 sporadic meteors which they have considered, they have found that 57 were created by meteoroids with characteristic similar to those of carbonaceous chondrites, 20 came from meteoroids similar to ordinary stony meteorites (chondrites) 8 came from iron meteoroids, 4 from stony-iron meteoroids, and 3 of the meteors came from very porous meteoroids of the dust clump type.