[meteorite-list] Terminal burst altitude vs. entry angle

[Steve Dunklee]

the only way for a low detonation of a small meteorite would  be if it fell at a low angle like less than6 degrees so it could survive to penetrate deeper. a larger piece it wouldnt make any difference.
cheers
Steve


--- On Tue, 3/26/13, Larry Atkins <thetoprok at aol.com> wrote:

> From: Larry Atkins <thetoprok at aol.com>
> Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Terminal burst altitude vs. entry angle
> To: ROBERT.D.MATSON at saic.com, jkellybeatty at comcast.net, clp at alumni.caltech.edu, meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com
> Date: Tuesday, March 26, 2013, 3:38 AM
> Hi Rob, All,
> 
> I've always been fascinated with the Carancas event. Wasn't
> that a rewrite the books, rule breaker? What might the
> results have been had the Russian meteor acted in the same
> manner and hit a large city dead center? I doubt the locals
> would be running around picking up meteorites!
> 
> 
> Sincerely,
> Larry Atkins
>  
> IMCA # 1941
> Ebay alienrockfarm
>  
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Matson, Robert D. <ROBERT.D.MATSON at saic.com>
> To: Kelly Beatty <jkellybeatty at comcast.net>;
> Chris Peterson <clp at alumni.caltech.edu>;
> meteorite-list <meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
> Sent: Mon, Mar 25, 2013 8:19 pm
> Subject: [meteorite-list] Terminal burst altitude vs. entry
> angle
> 
> 
> Hi Kelly,
> 
> > ... what Mike Farmer says agrees with Boslough's
> assessment: had the
> > impactor come in more vertically, its terminal burst
> would have been
> > lower ...
> 
> Since the dynamic pressure on the bolide is a function of
> the square
> of its velocity and the atmospheric density, it seems to me
> that a
> steeper entry angle must cause the body to break up at a
> higher
> altitude, not lower. A shallower entry angle allows the
> meteoroid
> more time to bleed off cosmic velocity in the thin upper
> atmosphere.
> With that lower velocity, the dynamic pressure that will
> cause breakup
> of the meteoroid does not occur until a lower altitude is
> reached
> where the atmospheric density is correspondingly higher.
> 
> I *did*, however, fail to take into consideration the
> projected area
> aspect of the problem. In the more vertical case, the
> shockwave is
> projected into a smaller area; in essence, there is less
> volume
> available to absorb all that energy. That may be more than
> enough to
> outweigh the slightly higher breakup altitude.  --Rob
> 
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