[meteorite-list] Intro Email

[Chris Peterson]

> A METEORID is a METEORITE that is still in space.

Not really. A meteoroid is simply the physical object that produces a 
meteor. Most never become meteorites. The object may be called a 
meteoroid while it is still in space (but destined to encounter the 
Earth), or the burning particle itself may be called that. Sometimes, 
particles with the potential to become meteors (as in Earth intersecting 
debris) are also called meteoroids.

I usually teach that small bodies (about 1mm to several meters) 
encountering the Earth are meteoroids. Any material that reaches the 
ground is a meteorite. A meteor is the visible effect of ablation of the 
meteoroid in the atmosphere. A fireball is a bright meteor, typically 
brighter than Venus (this is apparent brightness, so a fireball for one 
observer may not be for another). Some people use bolide to mean the 
same thing, but some use bolide only for meteors that fragment or 
explode, and some use the term to include not just the meteor, but the 
meteoroid itself. Meteoroids are rock, or occasionally iron, which have 
either been broken off of asteroids or freed from comets (or very 
rarely, knocked off the Moon or another planet). While either an 
asteroid or comet could produce a meteor, that would be a rare event, 
probably crater forming or otherwise very disruptive, and I doubt most 
people would refer to either as a meteoroid in that case.

A lot of terms used in meteoritics don't have formal definitions, so 
usage can be a bit variable.

Chris

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


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Pete Shugar" <pshugar at clearwire.net>
To: <Meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
Sent: Wednesday, March 05, 2008 8:52 PM
Subject: [meteorite-list] Intro Email


>I am  putting together an email that will introduce  two of my Junior 
>High
> students to the wonderful and bizzare world of the -TA TAH- meteorite
> collectior.
> Please read and feel free to offer any sugestions. Please let me know 
> if
> I've left out any important info or need to include something.
> Any or all of this can be freely used in any way deemed useful by 
> others.
>
> THIS IS THE CORRECTED VERSION
>
> Some terms to learn.
>
> A METEORID is a METEORITE that is still in space. Some meteorites come 
> from an ASTEROID, or very rarely maybe from a comet.
> Realistically, meteoroids, asteroids, and comets are different
> things (even though an asteroid or comet could become a meteor, and
> therefore be considered a meteoroid, such an event is happily very
> rare).[1]
> The streak of light as it enters earth's atmosphere is called a 
> METEOR.
> The ball of light and smoke as the meteor explodes into many fragments 
> is called a FIREBALL. Sometimes it is called a BOLIDE.
> What actually hits the ground is a METEORITE.
>
> Collectors refer to themselves as "collectors". People who study 
> meteors
> or meteorites scientifically are called meteoriticists. Some 
> collectors are meteoriticists, but not all. Similarly, not all 
> meteoriticists are collectors.[2]