Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by jojobas 15 days ago
No, it's a misnomer as with any other meteor.

If you were to witness the breakup from the bolide's reference frame and without all the rushing air you'd never call it an explosion.
1 comments
margalabargala 14 days ago
> and without all the rushing air

That's the exploding bit though. You don't need containment, you just need the the airburst. A hyper-heated pocket of air that then expands rapidly is itself an explosion.

link
jojobas 14 days ago
>then expands rapidly

Except it doesn't. The breakup has roughly the same dynamics as dirt spreading as it gets out of a tip truck. The shockwave is not produced by the outward motion, it barely has any speed.

link
margalabargala 14 days ago
You're conflating the outward motion of the rock with the outward motion of the air.

The shockwave is traveling at the speed of sound.

link