Fireball, 7 October 2004
On 7 October 2004 at 13:14 UTC, sensors detected a fireball above 27.3°S, 71.5°E, 35 km up. It released energy equal to about 18 kilotons of TNT.
The numbers
- Date and time (UTC)
- 7 October 2004, 13:14
- Location
- 27.3°S, 71.5°E
- Height at peak brightness
- 35 km
- Speed
- 19.2 km/s (69,120 km/h)
- Light energy radiated
- 1040 × 10¹⁰ joules
- Estimated total energy
- 18 kilotons of TNT
What does that mean?
That is about 1.2 times the energy of the Hiroshima bomb (about 15 kilotons), released harmlessly high in the atmosphere. If the object was stony rock entering at this speed, it was roughly 6.4 metres across and weighed around 410 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.