Fireball, 23 April 2012
On 23 April 2012 at 22:01 UTC, sensors detected a fireball above 36.2°N, 107.4°E, 25.2 km up. It released energy equal to about 0.16 kilotons of TNT.
The numbers
- Date and time (UTC)
- 23 April 2012, 22:01
- Location
- 36.2°N, 107.4°E
- Height at peak brightness
- 25.2 km
- Speed
- Not released
- Light energy radiated
- 4.8 × 10¹⁰ joules
- Estimated total energy
- 0.16 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 1.3 metres across and weighed around 3.3 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
- Weiyuan Mesosiderite, China · 297 km away
- Nan Yang Pao L6, China · 356 km away
- Ningqiang C3-ung, China · 389 km away
Saw a bright fireball yourself? Report what you saw.