A meteor moving 468 km per minute traveling in a south-to-north direction passed near Earth in 2013. Because the meteor was only 45 m wide and was 27,700 km above Earth’s surface, it was not visible without the aid of a telescope.
A meteor moving 468 km per minute traveling in a south-to-north direction passed near Earth in 2013. Because the meteor was only 45 m wide and was 27,700 km above Earth’s surface, it was not visible without the aid of a telescope.
I didn't know that. :-)
To understand why the meteor was not visible without the aid of a telescope, we need to consider a few factors.
First, let's calculate the time it takes for the meteor to pass a given point. We know that the meteor is moving at a speed of 468 km per minute. Since distance equals speed multiplied by time, we can rearrange the formula to solve for time: time (in minutes) = distance (in kilometers) / speed (in kilometers per minute).
In this case, the meteor passed near Earth at a distance of 27,700 km above the surface. Plugging these values into the formula, we can find the time it takes for the meteor to pass a given point:
Time = 27,700 km / 468 km per minute
Simplifying the calculation, we find that it takes approximately 59 minutes for the meteor to pass a given point.
Now, let's consider the width of the meteor. It is stated that the meteor is 45 meters wide. This means that the meteor covers a distance of 45 meters in the direction of its movement during the 59 minutes it takes to pass a given point.
Given the height of the meteor above Earth's surface and its width, it becomes clear why it is not visible to the naked eye. The angular size of an object determines its visibility, and for an object to be visible without aid, it needs to have a sufficiently large angular size.
Since the meteor is located 27,700 km above Earth's surface, its angular size is much smaller compared to its actual size. The angular size of an object can be calculated by dividing the actual size of the object by the distance to the object. In this case:
Angular size = 45 meters / 27,700 km
Converting kilometers to meters by multiplying by 1000, we find:
Angular size = 45 meters / 27,700,000 meters
Simplifying, we get an extremely small angular size.
Therefore, without the aid of a telescope, the meteor appears as a tiny point of light in the sky due to its small angular size, making it virtually impossible to see with the naked eye.