[meteorite-list] Meteorites 101

From: Mike Hankey <mike.hankey_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Sat, 15 Jan 2011 20:18:25 -0500
Message-ID: <AF45D53D-6B0E-4561-8119-5EDDAD8492D1_at_gmail.com>

See I always thought bolide was a a large fireball that fragmented. Is it safe to say only bolides become meteorites?

So the scale of bigness: meteor, fireball, bolide, super bolide. Super bolides are the ones shaking homes and >=-24 magnitude.

Great distraction after a terrible defeat by the squeelers. Congrats mike.

On Jan 15, 2011, at 7:53 PM, "Chris Peterson" <clp at alumni.caltech.edu> wrote:

> Bolide is a term that it's good to avoid. It doesn't mean anything... or rather, it means too many different things. "Fireball" unambiguously means a meteor of a specific apparent brightness. "Bolide" is simply confusing.
>
> Chris
>
> *****************************************
> Chris L Peterson
> Cloudbait Observatory
> http://www.cloudbait.com
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "R. Chastain" <suenrod at yahoo.com>
> To: "Walter Branch" <waltbranch at bellsouth.net>; <Meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>; "Count Deiro" <countdeiro at earthlink.net>
> Sent: Saturday, January 15, 2011 5:12 PM
> Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Meteorites 101
>
>
> Thanks for the definition.
> Let's see if I have this straight....
>
> Meteoroid = in space
>
> Meteor = The act of the previous meteoroid entering the atmosphere and producing light.
>
> Meteorite = Meteoroid, now meteor, that landed and becomes a meteorite.
>
> Let me muddy the waters a bit more:-)
> Where does the term Bolide figure in as compared to a fireball?
> I haven't found a good description of the difference.
>
> Rod
>
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Received on Sat 15 Jan 2011 08:18:25 PM PST