[meteorite-list] Meteorites 101

Chris Peterson clp at alumni.caltech.edu
Sat Jan 15 19:53:49 EST 2011


Bolide is a term that it's good to avoid. It doesn't mean anything... or 
rather, it means too many different things. "Fireball" unambiguously means a 
meteor of a specific apparent brightness. "Bolide" is simply confusing.

Chris

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


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "R. Chastain" <suenrod at yahoo.com>
To: "Walter Branch" <waltbranch at bellsouth.net>; 
<Meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>; "Count Deiro" 
<countdeiro at earthlink.net>
Sent: Saturday, January 15, 2011 5:12 PM
Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Meteorites 101


Thanks for the definition.
Let's see if I have this straight....

Meteoroid = in space

Meteor = The act of the previous meteoroid entering the atmosphere and 
producing light.

Meteorite = Meteoroid, now meteor, that landed and becomes a meteorite.

Let me muddy the waters a bit more:-)
Where does the term Bolide figure in as compared to a fireball?
I haven't found a good description of the difference.

Rod




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