[meteorite-list] Meteorites 101-Bolide

[Impactika at aol.com]

One last (?) comment regarding "bolide";
 
Yes it comes from the Latin, and is really a French word, used in France in 
relation to racing cars.
And it really should be pronounced just like  "solid". 
 
Anne M. Black
_http://www.impactika.com/_ (http://www.impactika.com/) 
_IMPACTIKA at aol.com_ (mailto:IMPACTIKA at aol.com) 
President, I.M.C.A. Inc.
_http://www.imca.cc/_ (http://www.imca.cc/) 
 
 
In a message dated 1/17/2011 4:26:23 AM Mountain Standard Time, 
info at meteorites.com.au writes:
Hi Elton & all,

It's funny but I've always been under the same impression as Elton in 
regards to the term bolide. I'm not sure why though! Basically I've always 
believed the following to be an approximate summary:

"Meteor" - basically a generic term for all meteors and associated light 
phenomena.
"Fireball" - exceptionally large and bright meteor at least as bright as 
Venus (i.e. -3 to -4 mag). Disintegrating body / sparks etc is still 
possible with a fireball.
"Bolide" - basically a "Fireball" PLUS an audible report.

I believe the term bolide originally stems from the Latin term "bolis" 
which 
roughly translates to a very large fiery meteor with some sources also 
referencing the associated audible phenomena. The earliest published 
reference I found online for "bolis" was Webster's Revised Unabridged 
Dictionary (1913) "(n.) A meteor or brilliant shooting star, followed by a 
train of light or sparks; esp. one which explodes."

I guess there are many variations and opinions. For the most part... 
they're 
probably all pretty much correct.

Cheers,

Jeff