[meteorite-list] Meteorites 101-Bolide

From: Impactika at aol.com <Impactika_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Mon, 17 Jan 2011 15:23:50 EST
Message-ID: <5a546.26f15a5a.3a65ff56_at_aol.com>

One last (?) comment regarding "bolide";
 
Yes it comes from the Latin, and is really a French word, used in France in
relation to racing cars.
And it really should be pronounced just like "solid".
 
Anne M. Black
_http://www.impactika.com/_ (http://www.impactika.com/)
_IMPACTIKA at aol.com_ (mailto:IMPACTIKA at aol.com)
President, I.M.C.A. Inc.
_http://www.imca.cc/_ (http://www.imca.cc/)
 
 
In a message dated 1/17/2011 4:26:23 AM Mountain Standard Time,
info at meteorites.com.au writes:
Hi Elton & all,

It's funny but I've always been under the same impression as Elton in
regards to the term bolide. I'm not sure why though! Basically I've always
believed the following to be an approximate summary:

"Meteor" - basically a generic term for all meteors and associated light
phenomena.
"Fireball" - exceptionally large and bright meteor at least as bright as
Venus (i.e. -3 to -4 mag). Disintegrating body / sparks etc is still
possible with a fireball.
"Bolide" - basically a "Fireball" PLUS an audible report.

I believe the term bolide originally stems from the Latin term "bolis"
which
roughly translates to a very large fiery meteor with some sources also
referencing the associated audible phenomena. The earliest published
reference I found online for "bolis" was Webster's Revised Unabridged
Dictionary (1913) "(n.) A meteor or brilliant shooting star, followed by a
train of light or sparks; esp. one which explodes."

I guess there are many variations and opinions. For the most part...
they're
probably all pretty much correct.

Cheers,

Jeff
Received on Mon 17 Jan 2011 03:23:50 PM PST