History
The System for Capture of Asteroid and Meteorite Paths (SCAMP) is the UK component of the FRIPON network. The first SCAMP cameras were installed by Alan Shuttleworth and Jim Rowe at sites in Honiton and London, respectively. Today the SCAMP network consists of 12 cameras hosted by research institutions, local astronomy societies, and citizen-scientists across the UK. SCAMP is part of the UK Fireball Alliance (UKFAll), a collaboration between the UK’s meteor camera networks that aims to recover freshly fallen meteorites. In February 2021, data from SCAMP cameras in Cardiff, Honiton, and Manchester played an important role in the recovery of the Winchcombe meteorite, a rare carbonaceous chondrite fall.
Left: The SCAMP camera hosted at the Jodrell Bank Observatory (credit: Katie Joy). Right: The Winchcombe fireball recorded by the SCAMP camera at the National Museum Wales, Cardiff.
National coordinators
- Dr Ashley King, Natural History Museum, London.
- Dr Andrew Smedley, The University of Manchester, Manchester.
Local network (stations)
- Alston (Mark Norris)
- Armagh Observatory & Planetarium (Apostolos Christou)
- Ballymaconnell (Robert Cobain)
- BGS Hartland Magnetic Observatory
- Eastbourne (Jim Rowe)
- Honiton (Alan Shuttleworth)
- Jodrell Bank Observatory (Tim O’Brien)
- Longville-in-the-Dale (John Woodward)
- National Museum Wales (Jana Horák)
- Royal Holloway, University of London (Queenie Chan)
- University of Kent (Dirk Froebrich)
- University of Manchester (Andrew Smedley)
Outlook
Three further SCAMP cameras are scheduled to come online in within the next couple of months. UKFAll also recently received funding from the UK’s Science & Technology Facilities Council (STFC), part of which will be used to install an additional 13 SCAMP cameras, providing nearly full coverage of the UK by the end of 2025.