"Yet nothing is hotter than a meteorite coming down burned past incandescent in the atmosphere."There aren't many reports regarding the apparent temperatures of newly arrived meteorites, but the proxy information is, probably not noticeably warm to the touch. The ablative cooling method used by most reentry vehicles was actually copied from meteor observations.
Meteorites can travel at speeds of up to 70km/sec, and are burning up as they travel through the Earth's atmosphere. This entry through the atmosphere causes the outside meteorite to become heated, change shape and often leave behind a burnt fusion crust. However, whenever a meteorite finally lands on the ground it is not glowing red hot. This is because of the ablation process which occurs on entry, the hot outside layer dissipates, as the meteorite has been travelling so fast only the outside has become heated. Also the meteorite has been in space for billions of years and its core is pretty cold. As the meteorite becomes nearer to the ground it has often slowed down and cooled enough that when it lands on the ground its often just ambient temperature. [Astronotes]
I wanna measurement of the outside, middle and inside temperature of the next 152 meteorites to hit earth. Taken every 30 seconds after impact until ambient. 8<)