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JFYI To be hit by a meteorite you would either need to be close to the Earth's surface or for somebody strong to throw it. Technically it is not a meteorite unt

JFYI To be hit by a meteorite you would either need to be close to the Earth's surface or for somebody strong to throw it. Technically it is not a meteorite until it impacts with the Earth's surface, therefore this object may actually be a meteoroid.

Crito 12y ago
Ah, technically correct.. the best sort of correct. It seems to me though that a meteoroid that has evidently survived reentry but has not yet reached "the surface" properly might be something of a previously unhandled edge case. Normally you would avoid naming meteoroids to be meteorites until after you have found them safely on the ground because it is possible that they burned up during their observation, but this one was observed well after the point where it may have burned up. Also from a delta-v perspective, it had already performed the majority of its transition (from kilometers per second to likely less than a hundred meters per second).
lutusp 12y ago
> Technically it is not a meteorite until it impacts with the Earth's surface, therefore this object may actually be a meteoroid. Not quite. Before entering Earth's atmosphere, it's a meteoroid. While passing through the atmosphere, it's a meteor. After landing, it's a meteorite. http://www.livescience.com/27183-asteroid-meteorite-meteor-meteoroid.html http://www.livescience.com/27183-asteroid-meteorite-meteor-m...
- escapologybb 12y ago
  > While passing through the atmosphere, it's a meteor. Just to be an absurdly pedantic, it's actually only the flash of light that is the meteor and not the rock itself. http://hubblesite.org/reference_desk/faq/answer.php.id=22&cat=solarsystem http://hubblesite.org/reference_desk/faq/answer.php.id=22&ca...
- aDevilInMe 12y ago
  Meteor is a description of the burning in the atmosphere not the object itself, which is still a meteoroid.
  - lutusp 12y ago
    > Meteor is a description of the burning in the atmosphere not the object itself ... Yes, fair enough. Unless the object is consumed in the process of generating the visible presentation (often true), which makes it a meteor -- or perhaps I should say "turns it into a meteor".

Crito 12y ago

Ah, technically correct.. the best sort of correct. It seems to me though that a meteoroid that has evidently survived reentry but has not yet reached "the surface" properly might be something of a previously unhandled edge case. Normally you would avoid naming meteoroids to be meteorites until after you have found them safely on the ground because it is possible that they burned up during their observation, but this one was observed well after the point where it may have burned up. Also from a delta-v perspective, it had already performed the majority of its transition (from kilometers per second to likely less than a hundred meters per second).

lutusp 12y ago

> Technically it is not a meteorite until it impacts with the Earth's surface, therefore this object may actually be a meteoroid. Not quite. Before entering Earth's atmosphere, it's a meteoroid. While passing through the atmosphere, it's a meteor. After landing, it's a meteorite. http://www.livescience.com/27183-asteroid-meteorite-meteor-meteoroid.html http://www.livescience.com/27183-asteroid-meteorite-meteor-m...

escapologybb 12y ago
> While passing through the atmosphere, it's a meteor. Just to be an absurdly pedantic, it's actually only the flash of light that is the meteor and not the rock itself. http://hubblesite.org/reference_desk/faq/answer.php.id=22&cat=solarsystem http://hubblesite.org/reference_desk/faq/answer.php.id=22&ca...
aDevilInMe 12y ago
Meteor is a description of the burning in the atmosphere not the object itself, which is still a meteoroid.
- lutusp 12y ago
  > Meteor is a description of the burning in the atmosphere not the object itself ... Yes, fair enough. Unless the object is consumed in the process of generating the visible presentation (often true), which makes it a meteor -- or perhaps I should say "turns it into a meteor".