Fireball, 14 December 2010
On 14 December 2010 at 00:27 UTC, sensors detected a fireball above 4.9°S, 175.5°E, 24 km up. It released energy equal to about 0.14 kilotons of TNT.
The numbers
- Date and time (UTC)
- 14 December 2010, 00:27
- Location
- 4.9°S, 175.5°E
- Height at peak brightness
- 24 km
- Speed
- Not released
- Light energy radiated
- 4.02 × 10¹⁰ joules
- Estimated total energy
- 0.14 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 1.2 metres across and weighed around 2.9 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.