[meteorite-list] Chelyabinsk trajectory modeling -- how well did we do? Part 1 of 2

From: Matson, Robert D. <ROBERT.D.MATSON_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Wed, 16 Oct 2013 17:42:16 -0700
Message-ID: <7C640E28081AEE4B952F008D1E913F170859CDB3_at_0461-its-exmb04.us.saic.com>

Hi Jim,

> What factors are used of any to add to the formula to account for
> the apparent explosion. In one video, that was posted early on,
> I could thought I could see the main mass coming out of that mess
> and others changing trajectory.

It's an illusion. Meteors don't "explode" like fireworks or TNT.
When they break up, their fragments simply decelerate at different
rates, primarily as a function of size, and to a lesser extent,
shape. The main body can appear to "blast through" a cloud of
this much smaller ablated material that is decelerating more
rapidly due to its greater cross-section/mass ratio. --Rob
Received on Wed 16 Oct 2013 08:42:16 PM PDT