Fireball, 26 March 2004
On 26 March 2004 at 16:35 UTC, sensors detected a fireball above 7.6°S, 155.1°E, 46 km up. It released energy equal to about 0.086 kilotons of TNT.
The numbers
- Date and time (UTC)
- 26 March 2004, 16:35
- Location
- 7.6°S, 155.1°E
- Height at peak brightness
- 46 km
- Speed
- Not released
- Light energy radiated
- 2.4 × 10¹⁰ joules
- Estimated total energy
- 0.086 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 metres across and weighed around 1.8 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
- Dyarrl Island Mesosiderite-A1, Papua New Guinea · 684 km away
Saw a bright fireball yourself? Report what you saw.