It's seldom confusing in practice, since the context almost always makes
clear what is actually under discussion. I'm pretty consistent in my own
usage: the body before and during its incandescent (meteor) phase is a
meteoroid, and after its incandescent phase is a meteorite (thus, a
meteorite during its cold fall).
Chris
*****************************************
Chris L Peterson
Cloudbait Observatory
http://www.cloudbait.com
----- Original Message -----
From: "Sterling K. Webb" <[email protected]>
To: "Jason Utas" <[email protected]>; "Meteorite-list"
<[email protected]>
Sent: Wednesday, January 13, 2010 12:14 AM
Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Small Asteroid 2010 AL30 Will Fly Past
TheEarth
Just to make things even more confusing,
the IAU itself has approved the use of the
term "meteor" in a dual sense to include the
physical body itself, thus equating "meteoroid"
with "meteor."
Say what?
Bob Verrish wrote an article about it:
http://meteorite-recovery.tripod.com/2008/mar08.htm
I quote the IAU:
Definition of terms by the IAU Commission 22, 1961.
A. meteor: in particular, the light phenomenon which results
from the entry into the Earth's atmosphere of a solid particle
from space; more generally, as a noun or an adjective, ANY
PHYSICAL OBJECT or phenomenon associated with such
an event.
B. meteoroid: a solid object moving in interplanetary space,
of a size considerably smaller than an asteroid and considerably
larger than an atom or molecule.
C. meteorite: any object defined under B which has reached
the surface of the Earth without being completely vaporized.
D. meteoric: the adjectival form pertaining to definitions A and B.
E. meteoritic: the adjectival form pertaining to definition C.
F. fireball: a bright meteor with luminosity which equals or
exceeds that of the brightest planets.
G. micrometeorite: a very small meteorite or meteoritic particle
with a diameter in general less than a millimeter.
Now, is everything perfectly clear?
I didn't think so...
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