Fireball, 3 June 2005
On 3 June 2005 at 08:15 UTC, sensors detected a fireball above 31.0°S, 90.3°W, 29.6 km up. It released energy equal to about 0.25 kilotons of TNT.
The numbers
- Date and time (UTC)
- 3 June 2005, 08:15
- Location
- 31.0°S, 90.3°W
- Height at peak brightness
- 29.6 km
- Speed
- 26.2 km/s (94,320 km/h)
- Light energy radiated
- 8.2 × 10¹⁰ joules
- Estimated total energy
- 0.25 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 this speed, it was roughly 1.2 metres across and weighed around 3 tonnes.
It penetrated deep into the atmosphere, which makes it more likely that fragments reached the ground as 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.