Fireball, 27 April 2011
On 27 April 2011 at 20:38 UTC, sensors detected a fireball above 1.4°N, 126.6°W, 28.7 km up. It released energy equal to about 0.61 kilotons of TNT.
The numbers
- Date and time (UTC)
- 27 April 2011, 20:38
- Location
- 1.4°N, 126.6°W
- Height at peak brightness
- 28.7 km
- Speed
- Not released
- Light energy radiated
- 22 × 10¹⁰ joules
- Estimated total energy
- 0.61 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 2 metres across and weighed around 13 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.