[meteorite-list] Norway Meteorite Impact Site Believed to be Found

[MexicoDoug at aol.com]

Sterling W. wrote:

<<(Truth is, meteoritic iron, tough as it is, is
often quite  brittle. Remember, inside it's only 
50-100 deg K when it hits, so maybe no big 
chunks.) Even if it was "only" a ton or two, it 
would be worth looking for, obviously>>
 
Hola Sterling, That temperature quoted probably would have the metal  a tad 
more brittle.  However your temperature expressed in absolute  Kelvin degrees 
corresponds to about 200 degrees below zero centigrade (and  a lot more degrees 
below zero Farenheit) 
 
I don't mean to rehash this too much, but, no, a large meteoritic iron  comes 
in at the boiling temperature of water and is actually 273 - over 300  
degrees centigrade hotter than you say and certainly not brittle as you  indicate.  
Earth is not magically a comfortable 25 degrees C either, but  that's another 
story.  Plenty of arguments for what happen in the upper  atmosphere regarding 
heating and cooling from terrestrial atmospheric sources,  but that 50 - 100 
K perpetuates misinformation where we have been and done that  before, time to 
move on Saludos, Doug