Fireball, 15 February 1997
On 15 February 1997 at 15:23 UTC, sensors detected a fireball above 35.5°N, 115.6°E. It released energy equal to about 0.43 kilotons of TNT.
The numbers
- Date and time (UTC)
- 15 February 1997, 15:23
- Location
- 35.5°N, 115.6°E
- Height at peak brightness
- Not released
- Speed
- Not released
- Light energy radiated
- 15 × 10¹⁰ joules
- Estimated total energy
- 0.43 kilotons of TNT
What does that mean?
That is a small 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 1.8 metres across and weighed around 9 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.
Known meteorites nearest this point
- Juancheng H5, China · 17 km away
- Hotse L6, China · 21 km away
- Fenghsien-Ku H5, China · 145 km away
Saw a bright fireball yourself? Report what you saw.