Fireball, 15 November 2005
On 15 November 2005 at 05:19 UTC, sensors detected a fireball above 26.3°N, 113.4°W, 32.4 km up. It released energy equal to about 0.089 kilotons of TNT.
The numbers
- Date and time (UTC)
- 15 November 2005, 05:19
- Location
- 26.3°N, 113.4°W
- Height at peak brightness
- 32.4 km
- Speed
- Not released
- Light energy radiated
- 2.5 × 10¹⁰ joules
- Estimated total energy
- 0.089 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 1.9 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
- Santa Rosalia Pallasite, PMG, Mexico · 156 km away
- Loreto Iron, IIIAB, Mexico · 205 km away
- Isla del Espíritu Santo L6, Mexico · 285 km away
Saw a bright fireball yourself? Report what you saw.