[meteorite-list] Cali chondrite fell extremely cold!

From: Michael Farmer <meteoriteguy_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Sun, 29 Jul 2007 14:46:53 -0700 (PDT)
Message-ID: <394316.67835.qm_at_web33106.mail.mud.yahoo.com>

I am sure that those perceptions play a large role in
the reports about "hot" meteorites. The finder of the
Cali #004 meteorite said that he picked it up, and
then rapidly put it down because it was so cold that
it hurt him.

As far as the Portales plastic melter, we had
discussed that at length during the fall in 98. I
completely believe that it was nothing more than a
black metal-rich object baking in super-hot summer sun
that caused the deformation of the plastic. It was
~110+ F in June just after the fall, blazing sun,
black object = surface temp of such an object of more
than 150-170 degrees.
Mike



--- Robert Woolard <meteoritefinder at yahoo.com> wrote:

> Mike, Al, etc.,
>
> With the assumed-evidence of frost forming on some
> freshly observed falls, and the seemingly logical
> assumption behind the physics of heat-transfer-rates
> vs the relatively short time a falling meteor
> travels
> at hyper velocity, I tend to believe that meteorites
> are probably cold to the touch when they impact.
> However, I would bet that greater than 99% of the
> people on Earth would just ASSUME that they "must"
> be
> hot. (Especially when almost every Hollywood movie
> shows meteorites "burning" all the way to the ground
> and then exploding in a big ball of fire.)
>
> Below is a copy of some info I found on a website
> under the heading of "Unified Theory of the Nervous
> System and Behavior":
>
> "If you touch something that is extremely cold
> (such
> as dry ice) you feel a burning sensation. Too much
> cold becomes hot."
>
> And here are a few words from another site on the
> sense of touch:
>
> ".... our skin does not perceive the exact
> temperature of an object. Instead, your skin can
> sense
> the difference in temperature of a new object in
> comparison to the temperature of an object the skin
> was already used to ("relative temperature")."
>
> I wonder if people who claim that meteorites
> were
> hot to the touch, were simply mistaking the cold
> temperature as being hot? I would be willing to bet
> that in almost every case, they are not picking up
> the
> meteorite in their hands and holding it for several
> seconds until it "burns" them and they throw it
> down.
> Rather, I wonder if they are ALREADY assuming it IS
> going to be hot and they tap it very briefly with
> the
> end of their finger and when their nerve endings
> send
> the message that it is a different temperature, they
> misinterpret it as being hot, because that was what
> they are expecting. It just wouldn't make sense to
> them that it was COLD. It "must" be hot. After all,
> its a "flaming meteorite", just like the ones
> they've
> seen in the movies.
>
> And as far as the melted plastic on the PV, it is
> my
> own meager opinion that it was the hot sun shining
> on
> a black metallic meteorite, sitting on a black piece
> of plastic on the hot ground, that caused it to
> stick.
>
>
> Robert Woolard
>
> --- AL Mitterling <almitt at kconline.com> wrote:
>
> > Hi Alex, Elton, Sterling and all,
> >
> > Nininger did a number of investigations where
> people
> > picked up
> > meteorites soon after the fall. His conclusions
> were
> > they were cold to
> > the touch (a number of them frosted over) after
> > falling. Seems however
> > there is always an exception to the rule and this
> > seem to be the case
> > for Noblesville, Indiana which was recovered
> seconds
> > after the fall
> > nearly missing Broody Spaulding and his friend by
> a
> > few feet. They
> > claimed it was warm to the touch.
> >
> > One of the Portales Valley specimens was said to
> > have melted a tarp
> > after its fall. This meteorite had lots of metal
> in
> > it though and might
> > explain that. Also in the hot desert it isn't
> > impossible for the black
> > crust to absorb heat and melt plastic.
> >
> > I've come to the conclusion that most falls will
> be
> > cold to the touch
> > with a few rare exceptions being slightly warm to
> > hot to the touch.
> > There isn't any scientifically documented
> instances
> > (that I know of)
> > where meteorites have cause fires. They just
> aren't
> > that hot. The study
> > of meteorites is of undifferentiated material. If
> > they were red hot,
> > white hot when they fell then their isotopes would
> > be re-set and all the
> > useful information would be lost. The exception of
> > course is the ablated
> > crust.
> >
> >
> > --AL Mitterling
> >
> >
> >
> > Mr EMan wrote:
> >
> > In my mind this supports that the thermal transfer
> > coefficent
> > is the key factor and that stones will be cold and
> > irons will be
> > warm immediately after landing.
> > ______________________________________________
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> >
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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Received on Sun 29 Jul 2007 05:46:53 PM PDT