Fireball, 15 April 2005
On 15 April 2005 at 06:54 UTC, sensors detected a fireball above 43.8°S, 73.9°W, 39 km up. It released energy equal to about 0.076 kilotons of TNT.
The numbers
- Date and time (UTC)
- 15 April 2005, 06:54
- Location
- 43.8°S, 73.9°W
- Height at peak brightness
- 39 km
- Speed
- Not released
- Light energy radiated
- 2.1 × 10¹⁰ joules
- Estimated total energy
- 0.076 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 1.6 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
- Esquel Pallasite, PMG, Argentina · 230 km away
- El Sampal Iron, IIIAB, Argentina · 293 km away
- Caperr Iron, IIIAB, Argentina · 317 km away
Saw a bright fireball yourself? Report what you saw.