[meteorite-list] Meteorites - warm or hot to the touch?

[E. L. Jones]

Hello Guys and Gals,

The Mohahans fall was reported by the young finders to be barely "hot 
potato" holdable owing to the warmth.  As to the Portales Valley and the 
tarp,  I believe there was a bit of debate as to whether or not the tarp 
was melted or embedded.  As an alumni of Ft Hood, Texas I remember 
putting a black tie rod-end down on a boat cover where a couple of 120°+ 
days later the tie rod had melted the tarp enough for there to be a 
bubble/smear of melted plastic under where the tie rod had lain.  So I 
remain slightly unconvinced as to whether the meteorite was "reentry 
hot" enough to have done the melting or hot on subsequent days with high 
"solar loading" hot!

One of the modern falls in Connecticut(Westfield?) was photographed ( if 
I recall correctly) with a frost rind on the broken face of the stone 
lying on the dinning room floor.  Ms Hodge's account(Sylicaga , 1964?) 
failed to mention if the stone was hot or cold.

I recall from previous discussions that when the Shuttle Orbiter 
returns, there are some components that are dangerously hot while other 
components rapidly frost up in the humid Florida air. Navigators know 
never to touch the mast of the sextant after a reading for it can be 
cold as -60°c especially over Greenland.   Growing up on a TAC fighter 
base the wings of an F-104 Starfighter were reputedly dangerously hot 
upon a landing after a supersonic scramble.  Over time, the leading edge 
of the wing was so sharpened via ablation, they had to place rubber 
strips on them for safety.  I also recall that the cockpit temperature 
of the SR-71 Blackbird could raise to over 400°f during the speed runs.  
Even the waste/urine could boil and the cockpit was known for it's nasty 
smell. Pilots of course wore an additional space-certified environmental 
suit owing to the cockpit conditions mentioned above.  All that said, 
there is no dispute that meteorites (and aircraft) heat up in transit.  
How specifically hot they are on the surface remains the unknown. 

I personally believe the meteorite surface is very warm slightly hot on 
most falls while the interior is very cold.  That is what the physics 
say should be.  While metal/iron is a good heat conductor, 
olivine/silicates is/are not, and it should take a longer  time for the 
two temperature extremes to neutralize in a stony fall. Ironically, an 
iron might actually take longer to cool down than a stone becasue it 
could theoretically store up more of the ablation heat internally than a 
stony could.

IF I am ever at the moment of a fall, I've already rehearsed the 
procedure. I intend to brand myself--hot and/or cold, and see if Al Lang 
will send me around to shows with Michelle Knapp's Malibu.

Regards,
Elton

AL Mitterling wrote:

>  I believe a tarp melted on the Portales Valley specimen provides 
> un-refutable proof.