Fireball, 21 April 2013
On 21 April 2013 at 06:23 UTC, sensors detected a fireball above 28.1°S, 64.6°W, 40.7 km up. It released energy equal to about 2.5 kilotons of TNT.
The numbers
- Date and time (UTC)
- 21 April 2013, 06:23
- Location
- 28.1°S, 64.6°W
- Height at peak brightness
- 40.7 km
- Speed
- 14.9 km/s (53,640 km/h)
- Light energy radiated
- 107 × 10¹⁰ joules
- Estimated total energy
- 2.5 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 3.9 metres across and weighed around 94 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
- Los Cerrillos H4, Argentina · 157 km away
- Malotas H5, Argentina · 163 km away
- Raco H5, Argentina · 180 km away
Saw a bright fireball yourself? Report what you saw.