Fireball, 9 December 2006
On 9 December 2006 at 06:31 UTC, sensors detected a fireball above 26.2°N, 26.0°E, 26.5 km up. It released energy equal to about 14 kilotons of TNT.
The numbers
- Date and time (UTC)
- 9 December 2006, 06:31
- Location
- 26.2°N, 26.0°E
- Height at peak brightness
- 26.5 km
- Speed
- 15.9 km/s (57,240 km/h)
- Light energy radiated
- 741 × 10¹⁰ joules
- Estimated total energy
- 14 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 this speed, it was roughly 6.7 metres across and weighed around 460 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.
Known meteorites nearest this point
- Great Sand Sea 001 L6, Egypt · 33 km away
- Great Sand Sea 020 H, Egypt · 34 km away
- Great Sand Sea 003 Iron, Egypt · 37 km away
Saw a bright fireball yourself? Report what you saw.