The analysis of casual video records of fireballs
Jiří Borovička · ASEP · 2014
An increasing number of fireballs is being recorded casually, e.g., by security cameras or dashboard cameras. In some cases, these records may have high scientific value. Positional calibration must be, however, done before any casual record can be used for fireball trajectory determination. Here, I describe a calibration method based on stellar imagery. Practical hints for taking the calibration images are given, and the required precision of finding the site, where the original record was taken, is discussed. Formulae for converting the image pixel coordinates to astronomical coordinates are provided.