Fireball, 15 January 2010
On 15 January 2010 at 19:17 UTC, sensors detected a fireball above 8.3°S, 27.0°E, 25 km up. It released energy equal to about 1.2 kilotons of TNT.
The numbers
- Date and time (UTC)
- 15 January 2010, 19:17
- Location
- 8.3°S, 27.0°E
- Height at peak brightness
- 25 km
- Speed
- 14 km/s (50,400 km/h)
- Light energy radiated
- 49.2 × 10¹⁰ joules
- Estimated total energy
- 1.2 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 3.2 metres across and weighed around 51 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
- Lusaka Unknown, DR Congo · 294 km away
- Kalaba H4, DR Congo · 320 km away
- Ivuna CI1, Tanzania · 598 km away
Saw a bright fireball yourself? Report what you saw.