Fireball, 20 November 2012
On 20 November 2012 at 20:37 UTC, sensors detected a fireball above 2.5°N, 29.6°E, 33.3 km up. It released energy equal to about 0.089 kilotons of TNT.
The numbers
- Date and time (UTC)
- 20 November 2012, 20:37
- Location
- 2.5°N, 29.6°E
- Height at peak brightness
- 33.3 km
- Speed
- 14.3 km/s (51,480 km/h)
- Light energy radiated
- 2.52 × 10¹⁰ joules
- Estimated total energy
- 0.089 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 this speed, it was roughly 1.3 metres across and weighed around 3.6 tonnes.
Most objects of this kind break up and burn away high in the atmosphere, but larger ones can drop small meteorites. About 70% of Earth is ocean, so most fireballs like this fall into the sea.
Known meteorites nearest this point
- Essebi C2-ung, Uganda · 143 km away
- Maridi H6, South Sudan · 244 km away
- Hoima H6, Uganda · 245 km away
Saw a bright fireball yourself? Report what you saw.