[meteorite-list] Meteorites 101

[Mike Hankey]

See I always thought bolide was a a large fireball that fragmented. Is it safe to say only bolides become meteorites? 

So the scale of bigness: meteor, fireball, bolide, super bolide. Super bolides are the ones shaking homes and >=-24 magnitude. 

Great distraction after a terrible defeat by the squeelers. Congrats mike. 

On Jan 15, 2011, at 7:53 PM, "Chris Peterson" <clp at alumni.caltech.edu> wrote:

> 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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