Fireball, 22 January 2004
On 22 January 2004 at 01:06 UTC, sensors detected a fireball above 50.6°S, 157.8°E, 37 km up. It released energy equal to about 0.64 kilotons of TNT.
The numbers
- Date and time (UTC)
- 22 January 2004, 01:06
- Location
- 50.6°S, 157.8°E
- Height at peak brightness
- 37 km
- Speed
- Not released
- Light energy radiated
- 23.2 × 10¹⁰ joules
- Estimated total energy
- 0.64 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 2 metres across and weighed around 13 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.