Interesting meteorite facts.
When a meteorite hits the ground is it cold or hot?
Friction is what causes the light visible from meteors, but it's friction from air rubbing against air and not the air rubbing against the meteorite directly which causes the heat and light. Rocks enter the atmosphere at speeds of 10 miles per second (supersonic speeds, that’s faster than the speed of sound) and at that speed, the air in front of the rock can't move out of the way fast enough and a wall of cool air is created around it.
This compression heats the air to the point of combustion, creating the familiar image of a shooting star. But the combustion never actually touches the meteorite. The compression happens so fast that it creates a pocket of relatively cool, slower air between the rock and the compressed air, and this process is called standoff shock.
Some heat is transmitted to the surface of the rock and it peels layers off in a process called ablation. With the hot surface layers peeled away, the core of the meteorite remains cool, thanks to its origin in space which is very cold. And once It slows down enough for the standoff effect to go reside the air may chill it down further. So by the time it lands they're moving at terminal velocity which can be around 180~220 mph, and they can be pretty cold.
This compression heats the air to the point of combustion, creating the familiar image of a shooting star. But the combustion never actually touches the meteorite. The compression happens so fast that it creates a pocket of relatively cool, slower air between the rock and the compressed air, and this process is called standoff shock.
Some heat is transmitted to the surface of the rock and it peels layers off in a process called ablation. With the hot surface layers peeled away, the core of the meteorite remains cool, thanks to its origin in space which is very cold. And once It slows down enough for the standoff effect to go reside the air may chill it down further. So by the time it lands they're moving at terminal velocity which can be around 180~220 mph, and they can be pretty cold.
