Fireball, 4 April 2006
On 4 April 2006 at 11:30 UTC, sensors detected a fireball above 26.6°N, 26.6°W, 25 km up. It released energy equal to about 5 kilotons of TNT.
The numbers
- Date and time (UTC)
- 4 April 2006, 11:30
- Location
- 26.6°N, 26.6°W
- Height at peak brightness
- 25 km
- Speed
- Not released
- Light energy radiated
- 240 × 10¹⁰ joules
- Estimated total energy
- 5 kilotons of TNT
What does that mean?
That is a large 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 4.1 metres across and weighed around 100 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.