> > I have grave doubts that anything on the ground was burned because of a > meteorite fall. There is simply no way to get a meteorite to the ground hot > without it retaining cosmic velocity, which means you would have a cratering > event.
That's true. Any meteorite that is still ablating when it reaches the ground is traveling at hypervelocity, and will leave a rather sizeable crater upon impact. We haven't had such an impact in recorded human history. Most meteorites will have hit the ground from a freefall speed, of less then 200 mph. So, it is extremely unlikey a meteorite would cause a fire from ablation. BUT There is still a couple of other ways a meteorite can cause a fire. If the meteorite hits something combustible on the ground and causes it to ignite or explode. A gas tank of a car, for example. Or the fireball appearance startles someone on the ground who knocks over a gas lantern, or drops his lit cigarette, and a fire then ensues. Ron Baalke ______________________________________________ Meteorite-list mailing list [email protected] http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
