Fireball, 23 December 2013
On 23 December 2013 at 08:30 UTC, sensors detected a fireball above 39.5°N, 2.0°E, 34.3 km up. It released energy equal to about 0.79 kilotons of TNT.
The numbers
- Date and time (UTC)
- 23 December 2013, 08:30
- Location
- 39.5°N, 2.0°E
- Height at peak brightness
- 34.3 km
- Speed
- 15.1 km/s (54,360 km/h)
- Light energy radiated
- 29.5 × 10¹⁰ joules
- Estimated total energy
- 0.79 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 2.6 metres across and weighed around 29 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
- Oliva-Gandia Stone-uncl, Spain · 184 km away
- Valencia H5, Spain · 184 km away
- Garraf L6, Spain · 197 km away
Saw a bright fireball yourself? Report what you saw.