Fireball, 13 April 2003
On 13 April 2003 at 17:58 UTC, sensors detected a fireball above 14.8°N, 64.5°E, 17 km up. It released energy equal to about 0.5 kilotons of TNT.
The numbers
- Date and time (UTC)
- 13 April 2003, 17:58
- Location
- 14.8°N, 64.5°E
- Height at peak brightness
- 17 km
- Speed
- Not released
- Light energy radiated
- 17.5 × 10¹⁰ joules
- Estimated total energy
- 0.5 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 1.9 metres across and weighed around 10 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.