Fireball, 25 February 2015
On 25 February 2015 at 10:53 UTC, sensors detected a fireball above 12.4°N, 122.4°W, 42 km up. It released energy equal to about 0.19 kilotons of TNT.
The numbers
- Date and time (UTC)
- 25 February 2015, 10:53
- Location
- 12.4°N, 122.4°W
- Height at peak brightness
- 42 km
- Speed
- Not released
- Light energy radiated
- 5.83 × 10¹⁰ joules
- Estimated total energy
- 0.19 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 1.4 metres across and weighed around 4 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.
Saw a bright fireball yourself? Report what you saw.