Bolide
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Look up bolide in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. |
A bolide (French via Latin from the Greek βολίς bolis, "missile" or "to flash"[2][3]) is an extremely bright meteor, especially one that explodes in the atmosphere. In astronomy, it refers to a fireball approximately as bright as the full moon, and it is generally considered a synonym of a fireball. In geology a bolide is a very large impactor.
One definition describes a bolide as a fireball reaching an apparent magnitude of −14 or brighter - more than twice as bright as the full moon.[4] Another definition describes a bolide as any generic large crater-forming impacting body whose composition (for example, whether it is a rocky or metallic asteroid, or an icy comet) is unknown.[5]
A superbolide is a bolide which reaches an apparent magnitude of −17 or brighter.[4][6] Recent examples of superbolides include the Sutter's Mill meteorite and the Chelyabinsk meteor.
Astronomy
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The IAU has no official definition of "bolide", and generally considers the term synonymous with fireball, a brighter-than-usual meteor. However, the term generally applies to fireballs reaching an apparent magnitude −14 or brighter.[4] Astronomers tend to use bolide to identify an exceptionally bright fireball, particularly one that explodes (sometimes called a detonating fireball). It may also be used to mean a fireball that is audible.
Superbolide
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Selected superbolide air-bursts events:
- Tunguska event (Russia, 1908)
- 2009 Sulawesi superbolide (Indonesia, 2009)
- Chelyabinsk meteor (Russia, 2013)
Geology
Geologists use the term bolide in a somewhat different context than astronomers do. In geology, it indicates a very large impactor. For example, the Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center of the USGS uses bolide as a generic term that describes any large crater-forming impacting body of which its origin and composition is unknown, as, for example, whether it was a stony or metallic asteroid, or a less dense, icy comet made of volatiles, such as water, ammonia and methane.[5]
Gallery
See also
- Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9 § Impacts
- Earth-grazing fireball
- Meteor procession
- Tollmann's hypothetical bolide
References
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- historic record of bolides that have been witnessed entering the Earth’s atmosphere around the world from 861 through 2012 (B612 Foundation)
- Bolide Events 1994 - 2013 neo.jpl.nasa.gov
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- ↑ http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bolide
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
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