Hi George, Michael and List: While I'm far from being a thermodynamicist, and agree with Michael, it seems to me that there's another factor that could produce a meteorite's infrared "signature" and lead to its recovery by the method proposed by George. A black fusion crust would permit a newly-fallen meteorite to absorb more heat radiation from the sun than would be absorbed by lighter-colored country rock. Therefore, after a bit of basking in the sun, such a meteorite should, after dark, appear some degree lighter to an appropriately-equipped searcher - assuming that it hadn't completely buried itself. What do you folks think ? Joel .... P.S. Regarding appropriate equipment, the surplus division of Edmund Scientific in Barrington,N.J. sells a very high power infrared device once used as a long range, Belgian Army artillery night sight.
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- To: GeoZay@aol.com
- Subject: Re: Looking for Meteorites with Infrared binoculars
- From: Michael Blood <mblood@access1.net>
- Date: Fri, 18 Jun 1999 00:51:53 +0000
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- Resent-Date: Fri, 18 Jun 1999 03:56:33 -0400 (EDT)
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GeoZay@aol.com wrote: >(snip) after watching some video of various pilots seeking out >military tanks using infrared goggles or binoculars, has anyone > here tried looking for iron meteorites with similar equipment? > The iron tanks glowed from the heat it gave off at night and > appeared to be easily noticed. It would seem that someone could > scan various isolated terrain such as mountains, desert sands, >dry lakes etc and see the heat emitting from iron meteorites if > they were > present? > George Zay ----------------- George, The reason tanks show up on infrared binoculars is they are radiating heat from running their engines earlier AND they have humans inside with 98.6 degrees F radiating their interior. Iron meteorites have neither of these factors. Best wishes, Michael ---------- Archives located at: http://www.meteoritecentral.com/list_best.html For help, FAQ's and sub. info. visit: http://www.meteoritecentral.com/mailing_list.html ----------
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