Yes - though the outer crust heats up as they go through the atmosphere, the inside never does and is as cold as it was in interplanetary space. Just doesn't have enough time in the few seconds of the meteorite fall for the heat to penetrate inwards. Indeed the outside ablates away, similarly to the heat shields of a re-entering spacecraft, keeping the inside at its original temperature.
So - depending how much of the crust remains and how much time it has to cool down - it could be warm to the touch or even, cold to the touch. Not many have touched a meteorite immediately after a fall, and of those who have, some have said it was warm to the touch and some have said it was cold - so it seems that basically we don't know (and might depend on the meteorite). Are meteorites hot or cold when they hit Earth? (Intermediate)
If you happen to have a way to measure its temperature you could help astronomers by doing that :).
Also - it could of course heat up again due to impact - but if it is a small meteorite, then its terminal velocity is quite low (like a mouse falling out of a skyscraper) so won't hit the ground with a huge velocity. It may hit the atmosphere with relative velocities of kilometers per second - but by the time it hits the ground it is traveling at speeds more like tens or at most hundreds of miles an hour. After flashing through the atmosphere as a fireball or meteorite in seconds, what is left over, if anything, takes three or four minutes to fall to the ground. Fireballs and Meteorite Falls
If you know its mass and cross sectional area, you can have a go at working out its approximate terminal velocity using the calculator here: Terminal velocity
While very large meteorites will hit the ground at great speed. But something like that would leave a crater and bury itself in the ground.
A large meteorite could also fragment as it approaches the ground - often do - leaving a meteorite field of debris - still - it would decelerate very quickly after it fragments into smaller parts so they would probably still hit at around terminal velocity.
So - depending how much of the crust remains and how much time it has to cool down - it could be warm to the touch or even, cold to the touch. Not many have touched a meteorite immediately after a fall, and of those who have, some have said it was warm to the touch and some have said it was cold - so it seems that basically we don't know (and might depend on the meteorite). Are meteorites hot or cold when they hit Earth? (Intermediate)
If you happen to have a way to measure its temperature you could help astronomers by doing that :).
Also - it could of course heat up again due to impact - but if it is a small meteorite, then its terminal velocity is quite low (like a mouse falling out of a skyscraper) so won't hit the ground with a huge velocity. It may hit the atmosphere with relative velocities of kilometers per second - but by the time it hits the ground it is traveling at speeds more like tens or at most hundreds of miles an hour. After flashing through the atmosphere as a fireball or meteorite in seconds, what is left over, if anything, takes three or four minutes to fall to the ground. Fireballs and Meteorite Falls
If you know its mass and cross sectional area, you can have a go at working out its approximate terminal velocity using the calculator here: Terminal velocity
While very large meteorites will hit the ground at great speed. But something like that would leave a crater and bury itself in the ground.
A large meteorite could also fragment as it approaches the ground - often do - leaving a meteorite field of debris - still - it would decelerate very quickly after it fragments into smaller parts so they would probably still hit at around terminal velocity.
About the Author
Robert Walker
Writer of articles on Mars and Space issues - Software Developer of Tune Smithy, Bounce Metronome etc.Studied at Wolfson College, Oxford
Lives in Isle of Mull
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