Fireball, 10 January 2006
On 10 January 2006 at 23:25 UTC, sensors detected a fireball above 29.8°N, 12.7°W, 32.4 km up. It released energy equal to about 0.098 kilotons of TNT.
The numbers
- Date and time (UTC)
- 10 January 2006, 23:25
- Location
- 29.8°N, 12.7°W
- Height at peak brightness
- 32.4 km
- Speed
- 16.9 km/s (60,840 km/h)
- Light energy radiated
- 2.8 × 10¹⁰ joules
- Estimated total energy
- 0.098 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 2.9 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
- Northwest Africa 6963 Martian (shergottite), Morocco · 252 km away
- Al Haggounia 001 Aubrite, Morocco · 256 km away
- Bou Kra 005 CM2, Morocco · 331 km away
Saw a bright fireball yourself? Report what you saw.