Hi Greg S., Richard, List,
Greg's question about the furthest known celestial body from which we
have a meteorite is very interesting! And it brings up another very
interesting question related to distance...
If we're not sure of the furthest asteroid or comet we've got meteorites
from, can we at least figure out how long it takes meteorites to get
here from the asteroid belt once asteroids collide? We know meteorites
come from a variety of planetary and asteroid bodies, and even some are
suspected cometary debris. But...
I've always wondered how long it would take a piece of asteroid debris
to impact our planet after an asteroid collision.
Asteroids are traveling at super high velocity when they impact,
creating massive explosive power comparable to multiple nuclear
explosions at once. Wouldn't that launch debris in ALL directions at
cosmic velocity? If this ejecta debris is moving at 15,000 to 25,000 MPH
how long would it take to reach our planet from the asteroid belt? Would
it slow considerably between there and here given the gravitational
forces exerted by Mars, Jupiter, the Moon, or even our planet? Would
most of the debris get caught by other planets, or even in stable orbits
around the Sun? How do you figure orbits of this smaller debris which
come from these collisions when you can't even see it?
I know, sorry for all the questions... but I want to know darnit! ;)
Regards,
Eric
On 7/12/2010 2:25 PM, Richard Kowalski wrote:
Hi Greg.
You probably will not be able to get a definitive answer to this one. Meteorite
parent bodies are from asteroids and the most likely mechanism to inject
asteroids and their fragments into orbits that intersect the earth is
perturbations by Jupiter. This places most asteroidal meteorites parent bodies
in the outer Main Belt.
As far as I know, there are no meteorites that have all the expected properties
that a cometary meteorite should have, so that makes the Main Belt the most
distant source of meteorites currently known.
If a cometary meteorite is discovered, it's parent ultimately would be the Oort Cloud, so
that would change "The most distant" record holder instantly.
Campins and Swindle presented a summary on what properties a cometary meteorite
should have at the 39th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference in 2008. It can
be read here:
http://www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/LPSC98/pdf/1004.pdf
--
Richard Kowalski
Full Moon Photography
IMCA #1081
--- On Mon, 7/12/10, Thunder Stone<[email protected]> wrote:
From: Thunder Stone<[email protected]>
Subject: [meteorite-list] What Meteorite is 'From' the farthest location from
the Earth?
To: [email protected]
Date: Monday, July 12, 2010, 1:17 PM
Hi List:
I was wondering if it is know what meteorite(s) is from (or
was created) at the farthest point from Earth? I know they
come from the asteroid belt and perhaps from comets, but
wouldn't it be really neat to have a meteorite that was
formed or (from) the farthest distance from Earth in your
hand: I think it would.
Greg S.
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