Fireball, 21 November 2013
On 21 November 2013 at 01:50 UTC, sensors detected a fireball above 44.7°N, 35.3°E, 59.3 km up. It released energy equal to about 0.23 kilotons of TNT.
The numbers
- Date and time (UTC)
- 21 November 2013, 01:50
- Location
- 44.7°N, 35.3°E
- Height at peak brightness
- 59.3 km
- Speed
- 12.4 km/s (44,640 km/h)
- Light energy radiated
- 7.5 × 10¹⁰ joules
- Estimated total energy
- 0.23 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 2 metres across and weighed around 13 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
- Vavilovka LL6, Russia · 251 km away
- Berdyansk L6, Ukraine · 257 km away
- Yurtuk Howardite, Ukraine · 291 km away
Saw a bright fireball yourself? Report what you saw.