Fireball, 31 December 2009
On 31 December 2009 at 12:50 UTC, sensors detected a fireball above 37.9°N, 178.3°W, 20.7 km up. It released energy equal to about 0.31 kilotons of TNT.
The numbers
- Date and time (UTC)
- 31 December 2009, 12:50
- Location
- 37.9°N, 178.3°W
- Height at peak brightness
- 20.7 km
- Speed
- Not released
- Light energy radiated
- 10.2 × 10¹⁰ joules
- Estimated total energy
- 0.31 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 1.6 metres across and weighed around 6.5 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.
Saw a bright fireball yourself? Report what you saw.