Fireball, 15 April 1988
On 15 April 1988 at 03:03 UTC, sensors detected a fireball above 4.1°S, 124.3°E. It released energy equal to about 14 kilotons of TNT.
The numbers
- Date and time (UTC)
- 15 April 1988, 03:03
- Location
- 4.1°S, 124.3°E
- Height at peak brightness
- Not released
- Speed
- Not released
- Light energy radiated
- 758 × 10¹⁰ joules
- Estimated total energy
- 14 kilotons of TNT
What does that mean?
That is a large burst by fireball standards: the Chelyabinsk fireball of 2013 released about 440 kilotons. If the object was stony rock entering at a typical 20 km/s, it was roughly 5.7 metres across and weighed around 290 tonnes.
Most objects of this kind break up and burn away high in the atmosphere, but larger ones can drop small meteorites. About 70% of Earth is ocean, so most fireballs like this fall into the sea.
Saw a bright fireball yourself? Report what you saw.