Fireball, 21 November 2008
On 21 November 2008 at 00:26 UTC, sensors detected a fireball above 53.1°N, 109.9°W, 28.2 km up. It released energy equal to about 0.41 kilotons of TNT.
The numbers
- Date and time (UTC)
- 21 November 2008, 00:26
- Location
- 53.1°N, 109.9°W
- Height at peak brightness
- 28.2 km
- Speed
- 12.9 km/s (46,440 km/h)
- Light energy radiated
- 14.2 × 10¹⁰ joules
- Estimated total energy
- 0.41 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 2.4 metres across and weighed around 21 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
- Buzzard Coulee H4, Canada · 12 km away
- Innisfree L5, Canada · 102 km away
- Kinsella Iron, IIIAB, Canada · 103 km away
Saw a bright fireball yourself? Report what you saw.