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Re: Bolide size versus recovered ...

 
>> The term bolide was used quite extensively within the scientific
>> community during the Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 impacts into Jupiter
>> in 1994. It is far from being obsolete.

>Indeed it was used, and still is, or - to be more accurate - is misused. 
>"Obsolete" doesn't just mean "no longer used" it also means "out of date" and as 
>the term "bolide" was replaced by "fireball" by the IAU in 1961 it is out of 
>date.

The last I checked, the IAU does not have any official authority to make
words obsolete from the English language.  The word bolide is still in
use with the scientific commnutiy today, so it not out of date, and hence,
not obsolete.

>I know that a "fireball" is a meteor brighter than mag.-4 (IAU Comm.22 
>definition), but what is a "bolide?" An exploding fireball? A very bright 
>fireball? An audible fireball? I've seen the term used to describe all these 
>phenomena! So, can anyone give me a cast iron definition and reference? I, for 
>one, would like to see bolide used instead of fireball but, until someone can 
>define the term, I'm not sure how it should be used!

Here are the definitions of bolide and fireball from a NASA home page:

bolide: a brilliant meteor, especially one which explodes; a denotating fireball

fireball: a bright meteor with luminosity which equals or exceeds that of the
          brightest planets

So, a bolide is essentially an exploding fireball.  Note that with these
definitions, a bright meteor can be both a bolide and a fireball.

Ron Baalke