Fireball, 7 February 2009
On 7 February 2009 at 19:51 UTC, sensors detected a fireball above 56.6°N, 69.8°E, 40 km up. It released energy equal to about 3.5 kilotons of TNT.
The numbers
- Date and time (UTC)
- 7 February 2009, 19:51
- Location
- 56.6°N, 69.8°E
- Height at peak brightness
- 40 km
- Speed
- 15.4 km/s (55,440 km/h)
- Light energy radiated
- 160 × 10¹⁰ joules
- Estimated total energy
- 3.5 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 this speed, it was roughly 4.3 metres across and weighed around 120 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
- Mokrousovo L/LL4/5, Russia · 207 km away
- Ural OC, Russia · 251 km away
- Pesyanoe Aubrite, Russia · 261 km away
Saw a bright fireball yourself? Report what you saw.