[meteorite-list] Meteoroids Before Meteorites

From: Eric Wichman <eric_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu, 12 Mar 2009 17:31:50 -0700
Message-ID: <49B9A976.3080409_at_meteoritewatch.com>

Hi all,

While looking at photos of our most recent extraterrestrial visitor, the
West meteorite, I was wondering what the "meteoroid" looked like while
floating around in space... Look how nice and white this piece is on the
"inside". http://www.rocksfromspace.org/133g_Interior.JPG Fusion crust
is only formed while entering our planets atmosphere. Meaning that this
meteorite was obviously whitish in color while still a meteoroid. Right?

Space is a vacuum, and a vacuum preserves things right? Look at the moon
and all the wonderful craters and how wonderfully preserved they are.
The moon never changes color except when viewed through our atmosphere.
 From space it looks the same as it did millions of years ago.

Does this mean that the West meteoroid, while in space and "before" it
hit our planet, was white? I mean, it's not like the minerals that make
up the meteoroid change colors before hitting our planet. Right?

I guess the reason I ask this is that we all see photos of asteroids
that are dark gray, gray-black or brown blobs of space rock floating
around the solar system. I think our perception of meteorites are quite
different. We tend to think of rocks from space as dark rocks floating
around aimlessly and randomly bumping into one another occasionally
sending pieces our way to be pulled in by our planets gravity.

Are there huge white rocks floating around out there? And if so,
wouldn't they be slightly easier to spot than a dark blob of an asteroid?

I hope these aren't dumb questions.

Eric
Received on Thu 12 Mar 2009 08:31:50 PM PDT