Quote:
Originally Posted by pinkerton
I have to disagree, if you paint a meteor white(if you have enough heads up) it will burn/destroy most of it.No doubt some fragments would hit earth but not with such intensity.
|
So what would make it burn up if it was white? If it was black, it would heat up more. When you wrap something in reflective material, it keeps any other heat out (if the temperature outside is higher) or keeps any internal heat in (if the inner temperature is higher) - ie instead of transferring heat from one to the other it reflects the heat back the way it came. Therefore, it works against heating the meteor up.
Try it yourself - wrap a couple of stones up, one in white and one in black, and leave them for a while in the sunlight. Then unwrap them and see which one is warmer - it will be the one wrapped in black.
Even comets only develop a tail when they're in a close orbit around the sun. When they are further out, they are just lumps of ice/whatever. If a meteor, which is more than likely made of metal or rock, is heading for the earth, to burn it up it would have to reach a MUCH higher temperature than that required to melt ice (ie the comet), and it just isn't going to get close enough to the sun. The only time this temperature would be reached is entering the atmosphere of the earth, and if it's too big most of it will survive the entry process. The sun won't even play a part in what burns up.