[meteorite-list] 240 pound SHREWSBURY "Meteor"

[Chris Peterson]

A loss of only 90% to ablation during entry would be low. 95%-98% is 
probably more typical. This is backed by actual observation of the 
velocity profiles of meteors caught on camera, and by theoretical 
ablation models. That said, iron meteorites can potentially survive with 
much less ablation because their (sometimes) high material strength may 
allow them to slow down without undergoing massive fragmentation like 
virtually all stony meteorites experience.

Without knowing the details of the atmospheric path, however, the 90% 
estimate is a lot more likely than 15%.

Chris

*****************************************
Chris L Peterson
Cloudbait Observatory
http://www.cloudbait.com


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "rob szep" <zeprox2004 at yahoo.co.uk>
To: <meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
Sent: Saturday, May 05, 2007 11:30 AM
Subject: [meteorite-list] 240 pound SHREWSBURY "Meteor"


> Pleasant greetings fellow list-members...
>
> In reading the posting to the "list" regarding the "SHREWSBURY 
> HOME-COMING" I was a bit surprized to see the claim that according to 
> scientists 90% of a METEOR is LOST during atmospheric passage, meaning 
> the Shrewsbury meteor was 240 pounds in weight as it entered our 
> atmosphere...
>
> I'm not buying it... Ablation MIGHT result in a ~15% weight loss but 
> that hypothetical 90% guess - which is all it is - sounds a wee-bit 
> excessive to me.
>
> Anyone else care to share their thoughts on the matter?
>
>
> 
> "Zep", over & out...