[meteorite-list] Meteorites 101

[Walter Branch]

Hello Count,

Yes, many writers refer to the light phenomenon and the object itself as 
"meteor" but some make a distinction between the two. That definition does 
both, seemingly in the same breath!

Also, does light originate from the "glowing rock" itself  or the plasma 
(ionized gas) surrounding it?  I thought from the plasma.

-Walter

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Count Deiro" <countdeiro at earthlink.net>
To: "Walter Branch" <waltbranch at bellsouth.net>; 
<Meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
Sent: Saturday, January 15, 2011 6:30 PM
Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Meteorites 101


> Hi Walter and all,
>
> This may be the acceptable nomenclature....
>
> METEOR (mt-r)
> 1. A bright trail or streak of light that appears in the night sky when a 
> meteoroid enters the Earth's atmosphere. The friction with the air causes 
> the rock to glow with heat. Also called shooting star.
> 2. A rocky body that produces such light. Most meteors burn up before 
> reaching the Earth's surface. See Note at solar system.
> Usage The streaks of light we sometimes see in the night sky and call 
> meteors were not identified as interplanetary rocks until the 19th 
> century. Before then, the streaks of light were considered only one of a 
> variety of atmospheric phenomena, all of which bore the name meteor. Rain 
> was an aqueous meteor, winds and storms were airy meteors, and streaks of 
> light in the sky were fiery meteors. This general use of meteor survives 
> in our word meteorology, the study of the weather and atmospheric 
> phenomena. Nowadays, astronomers use any of three words for rocks from 
> interplanetary space, depending on their stage of descent to the Earth. A 
> meteoroid is a rock in space that has the potential to collide with the 
> Earth's atmosphere. Meteoroids range in size from a speck of dust to a 
> chunk about 100 meters in diameter, though most are smaller than a pebble. 
> When a meteoroid enters the atmosphere, it becomes a meteor. The light 
> that it gives off when heated by friction with the atmosphere is also 
> called a meteor. If the rock is not obliterated by the friction and lands 
> on the ground, it is called a meteorite. For this term, scientists 
> borrowed the -ite suffix used in the names of minerals like malachite and 
> pyrite.
>
> The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2005 by Houghton 
> Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights 
> reserved.
>
> Best to all,
>
> Count Deiro
> IMCA 3536 MetSoc
>
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
>>From: Walter Branch <waltbranch at bellsouth.net>
>>Sent: Jan 15, 2011 3:13 PM
>>To: Meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com
>>Subject: [meteorite-list] Meteorites 101
>>
>>Hello Everyone,
>>
>>The term "meteor" refers to the light phenomenon as an object from space
>>enters the Earth's atmosphere.  What is the proper term for the object
>>itself?
>>
>>A  meteoroid is an object in space.  Is it still called a meteoroid when 
>>it
>>enters the Earth's atmosphere?
>>
>>-Walter
>>
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