[meteorite-list] Fire caused by meteorites.. Is it possible?

From: Gary Daniels <Gary_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Wed, 29 Aug 2012 17:43:37 -0400
Message-ID: <CC640549.BDDE%Gary_at_LostWorlds.org>

If the meteorite is a comet fragment, then there's no reason it can't be hot
enough upon impact to start a fire under the right conditions. Recent
evidence has shown that some comets are hot and dry not icy and some also
have gas jets on their night sides which astronomers have theorized is only
possible if they are somehow transferring (and storing) heat in their
interiors. If a comet in space can store heat then a fragment of one should
have no problem storing the heat created when entering the atmosphere. If
such a meteorite landed in the right conditions (dry grass, for instance)
then a fire could be started easily.

I've seen grass fires start from very hot lawn mowers (no sparks, just heat)
when the grass was extremely dry and there was a slight breeze to fan the
flames. I've also seen grass fires start from overheated car engines on the
side of the road (in high, dry grass.) So I see no reason why a comet
fragment/meteorite couldn't cause a fire under similar circumstances.

Whether there are any actual recorded instances of such is an entirely
different matter. :)

-Gary Daniels
http://www.LostWorlds.org
http://www.MayaInAmerica.com
http://www.2012Quest.com


On 8/29/12 5:15 PM, "Chris Peterson" <clp at alumni.caltech.edu> wrote:

> The first and last examples are highly speculative, and probably not
> examples of fires started by meteorites.
>
> Tunguska, of course, shows how fires can be started by the air burst of
> a _meteor_, which makes sense. But I don't know of any case where there
> is good evidence of a fire started by an ordinary _meteorite_ impact.
> (The question was about meteorites, not meteors).
>
> Chris
>
> *******************************
> Chris L Peterson
> Cloudbait Observatory
> http://www.cloudbait.com
>
> On 8/29/2012 1:56 PM, Gary Daniels wrote:
>> The fires of 1871 (including the Great Chicago Fire) were theorized to have
>> been started by meteorites/fragments of Comet Biela:
>>
>> http://meteorite-identification.com/mwnews/08232004.htm
>>
>> And, of course, the Tunguska air burst set 800 sq miles of forest on fire:
>>
>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tunguska_event
>>
>> A similar (though much much smaller) event is thought to have happened in
>> 1564 in Jacksonville, Florida due to a meteor airburst:
>>
>> http://jacksonville.com/news/florida/2012-08-08/story/scientists-ask-did-met
>> eor-fall-jacksonville-448-years-ago
>>
>> So can meteors cause fires? Yep. When they explode before impacting.
>>
>> -Gary Daniels
>
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Received on Wed 29 Aug 2012 05:43:37 PM PDT