Dear List,
I have a speculative question about the visual characteristics of Sikhote Alin fireballs. The Other day I was describing the visual characteristics of the Sikhote Alin fireball/s to a neighbor who has just started collecting meteorites. For the most part this was easy to do because there were so many witnessess to much of the flight trajectory through the atmosphere. However, it is my understanding that nobody was in or near the location of the strewnfield at the time. It is probably safe to assume that most of the thumbprinted individuals behaved like typical meteorites: they lost all of their cosmic velocity in the atmosphere, went dark, and fluttered gently to the ground like black snowflakes, showering down at a few hundred miles per hour. However, I don't have a clue about what the impacts of the fastest shrapnal-producing pieces would have looked like to a hypothetical observer.
Does anyone know whether these fastest pieces were moving rapidly enough to remain luminous all the way to the ground? Also, were the impacts themselves intense enough to produce fireballs?
It is my understanding that there was no evidence of burning at any of the impact sites. However that may not preclude the possibility that there was a brief instant of fairly high temperatures at an impact site. For example, many cloud to ground lightening strikes do not produce fires (even in the absence of rain) despite producing plently of light and heat.
Anyhow, maybe I have to much free time today, but I thought I'd ask. Any thoughts would be appreciated.
Sincerely
Stephen McMann
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