Fake but accurate. The colors shown are indeed the color one would get in a situation where the named element was excited (ionized) by heat, electricity, etc. However. In the real world, there is rarely enough of the named element in the meteoric matrix to show color in the face of general incandescence, and since meteorites are broadly metallic (iron/nickel) or stone (calcium/aluminum/ silicon/magnesium oxides mostly) refractories, that's what you'll get: a black body emission, not a spectrographic color. A spectrograph pointed at the glowing ball will indeed show peaks at any of those wavelengths if that element is present. The mark one eyeball is inadequate for the task. One more thing: a "nitrogen/oxygen" meteor is imaginary; there are frozen water meteors, but elemental nitrogen or oxygen in any meteor will be long gone before temperatures reach the ionization range.
"In the real world, there is rarely enough of the named element in the meteoric matrix to show color in the face of general incandescence."
Bullshit. I saw one about twenty years ago, in broad daylight, that had a green head and a pink body that left a small pink trail and smoke behind it. Two other people saw the same thing.
All the rest I've seen in my lifetime, which is ~a dozen, were white streaks in a night sky, one of which left a sparkly white trail.
Based on your assertion, the odds of seeing one out of a dozen or so with colors is pretty small. Yet, I've seen one out of a dozen with colors spread over a long number of years.
Big deal. So does the color of a turd.
ReplyDeleteFake but accurate. The colors shown are indeed the color one would get in a situation where the named element was excited (ionized) by heat, electricity, etc. However. In the real world, there is rarely enough of the named element in the meteoric matrix to show color in the face of general incandescence, and since meteorites are broadly metallic (iron/nickel) or stone (calcium/aluminum/ silicon/magnesium oxides mostly) refractories, that's what you'll get: a black body emission, not a spectrographic color. A spectrograph pointed at the glowing ball will indeed show peaks at any of those wavelengths if that element is present. The mark one eyeball is inadequate for the task. One more thing: a "nitrogen/oxygen" meteor is imaginary; there are frozen water meteors, but elemental nitrogen or oxygen in any meteor will be long gone before temperatures reach the ionization range.
ReplyDelete"In the real world, there is rarely enough of the named element in the meteoric matrix to show color in the face of general incandescence."
DeleteBullshit. I saw one about twenty years ago, in broad daylight, that had a green head and a pink body that left a small pink trail and smoke behind it. Two other people saw the same thing.
All the rest I've seen in my lifetime, which is ~a dozen, were white streaks in a night sky, one of which left a sparkly white trail.
Based on your assertion, the odds of seeing one out of a dozen or so with colors is pretty small. Yet, I've seen one out of a dozen with colors spread over a long number of years.
Oh, unlike you, I sign my statements.
Nemo
"I saw one about twenty years ago, in broad daylight, that had a green head and a pink body that left a small pink trail and smoke behind it."
DeleteDude.....that was just some stoner on his way to the music festival.