Fireball, 3 April 2005
On 3 April 2005 at 01:45 UTC, sensors detected a fireball above 1.0°S, 112.4°E, 59.2 km up. It released energy equal to about 0.61 kilotons of TNT.
The numbers
- Date and time (UTC)
- 3 April 2005, 01:45
- Location
- 1.0°S, 112.4°E
- Height at peak brightness
- 59.2 km
- Speed
- Not released
- Light energy radiated
- 21.9 × 10¹⁰ joules
- Estimated total energy
- 0.61 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.
Known meteorites nearest this point
- Rembang Iron, IVA, Indonesia · 648 km away
- Jepara Pallasite, PMG, Indonesia · 650 km away
- Kangean H5 · 750 km away
Saw a bright fireball yourself? Report what you saw.