[meteorite-list] Fireball question / sonic boom

From: GeoZay at aol.com <GeoZay_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Wed, 30 Mar 2011 10:32:14 EDT
Message-ID: <29ffb.3543fc7e.3ac498ee_at_aol.com>

>>Ablation ceases at 3-4 km/s (about Mach 10), and this is about where the
meteoroid becomes invisible. For a typical meteorite, it will rapidly lose
this remaining velocity and enter nearly vertical dark flight.<<


Thanks Chris...When math gets beyond my ten fingers and ten toes, I get
swamped. :O)
Not sure if I've converted it right, but I end up with something like:

3km/s equals 1.76 miles/sec of which that equals about 6336 mph.

again...
4km/s equals 2.35 miles/sec of which that equals about 8460 mph.

So if I counted on my toes properly, the point of retardation in mph comes
to be in the approximate range of 6336mph to 8460 mph?
Received on Wed 30 Mar 2011 10:32:14 AM PDT