Mmmmmm... what exactly does "wide destruction" mean? Probably putting a hole in someone's roof, denting a car, or even killing a dog <g> doesn't count. How big a crater do you want? Does it matter if it craters an uninhabited place? Does something that destroys a building count more than something that displaces a lot of Pacific water? I believe marble-sized is the minimum size for a meteorite to survive the plunge through the atmosphere, but I don't know the parameters for "how bad is bad".
Tracy Latimer On Wed, 24 Jul 2002, Walter Branch wrote: > Hello Everyone, > > I have been asked a question for which I have no answer. > > > "how large does an object have to be for it not to vaporize completely upon plunging >through Earth's atmosphere, i.e., for there > to be anything sizeable left to cause wide destruction once it hits the ground (or >water)?" > > I know that the answer is not an easy one and there are numerous variables involved >(e.g., type of material involved, angle of entry, definition of "wide destruction," >etc.) but does anyone have a guess (or a SWAG) as to the answer. > > -Walter > > > > ----------------------------------------------- > Walter Branch, Ph.D. > Branch Meteorites > 322 Stephenson Ave., Suite B > Savannah, GA 31405 USA > www.branchmeteorites.com > ______________________________________________ Meteorite-list mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
