Fireball, 4 September 2009
On 4 September 2009 at 02:23 UTC, sensors detected a fireball above 42.5°N, 110.0°E, 28.3 km up. It released energy equal to about 2.3 kilotons of TNT.
The numbers
- Date and time (UTC)
- 4 September 2009, 02:23
- Location
- 42.5°N, 110.0°E
- Height at peak brightness
- 28.3 km
- Speed
- 24 km/s (86,400 km/h)
- Light energy radiated
- 96.5 × 10¹⁰ joules
- Estimated total energy
- 2.3 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 2.8 metres across and weighed around 33 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
- Inner Mongolia L6, China · 235 km away
- Liangcheng Iron, IIIAB, China · 305 km away
- Shangdu Iron, IIIAB, China · 328 km away
Saw a bright fireball yourself? Report what you saw.