Fireball, 4 May 2007
On 4 May 2007 at 17:52 UTC, sensors detected a fireball above 22.9°N, 109.4°E, 48 km up. It released energy equal to about 0.5 kilotons of TNT.
The numbers
- Date and time (UTC)
- 4 May 2007, 17:52
- Location
- 22.9°N, 109.4°E
- Height at peak brightness
- 48 km
- Speed
- Not released
- Light energy radiated
- 17.5 × 10¹⁰ joules
- Estimated total energy
- 0.5 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 1.9 metres across and weighed around 10 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
- Yongning Iron, IAB-ung, China · 111 km away
- Duan Iron, China · 173 km away
- Zhaoping Iron, IAB complex, China · 235 km away
Saw a bright fireball yourself? Report what you saw.