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Name: DC Whitbeck
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Question:
About how fast does a meteoroid travel?


Replies:
From "Introductory Astronomy and Astrophysics" by Smith and Jacobs: (note that meteorites are meteoroids that have entered the Earth's atmosphere) "Solar escape speed at the Earth's orbit is 42 km/sec; meteoroids cannot move faster than this. In the early evening, meteoroids must catch the Earth, while after midnight, the Earth (30 m/sec) catches up to all but the fastest meteoroids moving along its orbit."

Hawley

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