Developing a Cost-Effective Radiometer for Fireball Light Curves

Abstract

Fireball light curves can give insight into the meteor ablation process which can be used to improve fireball trajectory and mass modelling. To this aim, the Desert Fireball Network (DFN) is developing a low cost add-on fireball radiometer to supplement existing observatories. The objective is to collect radiometric data on fireballs across a wide spectral range at 1000 samples per second with sensitivity to a large dynamic range (mV $\in$[-4, -20]), whilst maintaining a low cost. Here we discuss the current prototype design and first light results.