Fireball, 18 March 2005
On 18 March 2005 at 16:48 UTC, sensors detected a fireball above 9.7°S, 34.7°W, 33 km up. It released energy equal to about 0.095 kilotons of TNT.
The numbers
- Date and time (UTC)
- 18 March 2005, 16:48
- Location
- 9.7°S, 34.7°W
- Height at peak brightness
- 33 km
- Speed
- Not released
- Light energy radiated
- 2.7 × 10¹⁰ joules
- Estimated total energy
- 0.095 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 1.1 metres across and weighed around 2 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
- Serra de Magé Eucrite-cm, Brazil · 270 km away
- Bendegó Iron, IC, Brazil · 495 km away
- Quijingue Pallasite, PMG, Brazil · 508 km away
Saw a bright fireball yourself? Report what you saw.