Fireball, 16 May 2007
On 16 May 2007 at 04:45 UTC, sensors detected a fireball above 42.4°S, 164.0°E, 31.5 km up. It released energy equal to about 1 kilotons of TNT.
The numbers
- Date and time (UTC)
- 16 May 2007, 04:45
- Location
- 42.4°S, 164.0°E
- Height at peak brightness
- 31.5 km
- Speed
- Not released
- Light energy radiated
- 40 × 10¹⁰ joules
- Estimated total energy
- 1 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 2.4 metres across and weighed around 21 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
- Makarewa L6, New Zealand · 558 km away
Saw a bright fireball yourself? Report what you saw.