Fireball, 23 April 2001
On 23 April 2001 at 06:12 UTC, sensors detected a fireball above 28.0°N, 133.6°W, 29 km up. It released energy equal to about 9 kilotons of TNT.
The numbers
- Date and time (UTC)
- 23 April 2001, 06:12
- Location
- 28.0°N, 133.6°W
- Height at peak brightness
- 29 km
- Speed
- Not released
- Light energy radiated
- 460 × 10¹⁰ joules
- Estimated total energy
- 9 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 4.9 metres across and weighed around 190 tonnes.
It penetrated deep into the atmosphere, which makes it more likely that fragments reached the ground as 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.