[meteorite-list] Meteorite surface temperature revisited
Matson, Robert
ROBERT.D.MATSON at saic.com
Tue Nov 23 16:37:07 EST 2004
On another topic, S. Ray DeRusse opined:
> We realized the level of absurdity from you and many others when
> you endlessly debated whether a meteorite fall is hot to the touch
> back in 2002. You guys endlessly debated this issue and some trained
> scientists even weighed in on the issue but only served to cloud it.
> Since ya'll never settled it let me tell you the heat generated by
> a meteorite fall is proportional to the metal content.
Incorrect. Generated heat has little to do with the meteoroid
composition.
> That is to say the higher the metal content the hotter to the
> touch.....duh.
This is a different claim and a misleading statement since it
doesn't address the question of ~why~ a meteorite with higher
metal content would be warmer to the touch (a statement which
isn't true, by the way, in all cases). Far more important than
the metal content of a meteorite to its surface temperature
(shortly after landing) is its volume.
> That means that stony meteorites will only be warm to the
> touch whereas iron-nickel meteorites will be hot.
Small iron-nickel meteorites might be warm or even hot to the
touch; larger ones will be significantly cooler. Stony meteorites
are much more likely to be ice-cold than warm due to significant
ablation.
Cheers,
Rob
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