Fireball, 9 December 2014
On 9 December 2014 at 21:19 UTC, sensors detected a fireball above 76.6°N, 96.3°E, 26.3 km up. It released energy equal to about 0.24 kilotons of TNT.
The numbers
- Date and time (UTC)
- 9 December 2014, 21:19
- Location
- 76.6°N, 96.3°E
- Height at peak brightness
- 26.3 km
- Speed
- Not released
- Light energy radiated
- 7.8 × 10¹⁰ joules
- Estimated total energy
- 0.24 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 a typical 20 km/s, it was roughly 1.5 metres across and weighed around 5 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.