Fireball, 26 June 2014
On 26 June 2014 at 05:54 UTC, sensors detected a fireball above 71.5°S, 93.4°E, 28.5 km up. It released energy equal to about 0.2 kilotons of TNT.
The numbers
- Date and time (UTC)
- 26 June 2014, 05:54
- Location
- 71.5°S, 93.4°E
- Height at peak brightness
- 28.5 km
- Speed
- 11.2 km/s (40,320 km/h)
- Light energy radiated
- 6.1 × 10¹⁰ joules
- Estimated total energy
- 0.2 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.
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.
Saw a bright fireball yourself? Report what you saw.