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Re: (meteorobs) Starting Fires
Subject: Re: (meteorobs) Starting Fires
>
> >>Meteorites do not cause backyard fires! They too are cool!!!
> >>Wayne
>
It is true, that there is no convincing record of a so called 'normal'
meteorite starting a fire on impact. Not all meteorites are necessarily
cold to the touch on landing. See my article in METEOR TRAILS, Number 9,
October 2000, "End Point Heights of Fireballs" on page 7. Several years
ago, Dr. Peter M. Millman, NRCC, investigated the fall of the Benton, N.B.
meteorite. It was picked up soon after the fall and it was too hot to hold
in your hand. The farmer said it was like a hot potato which he tossed from
one hand to another. Dr. Ian Halliday, NRCC, commented on this and stated
that ablation is intense during the hypersonic flight with most of the heat
being ablated away with out much internal heating. When the speed of the
meteor drops or slows enough where ablation stops, it may still be receiving
a lot of heat and if the radiant is low in the sky there may be some time
when this is like a blow torch heating it up. Therefore, warm or hot at
impact. Other meteorites can develop a frost layer as their time in the
atmosphere is much less and their internal temperature keeps them cool. We
need more meteorites to be picked up immediately after the fall so this can
be studied.
Ed Majden
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