Fireball, 4 July 2015
On 4 July 2015 at 01:40 UTC, sensors detected a fireball above 38.6°N, 103.1°E, 46.3 km up. It released energy equal to about 0.23 kilotons of TNT.
The numbers
- Date and time (UTC)
- 4 July 2015, 01:40
- Location
- 38.6°N, 103.1°E
- Height at peak brightness
- 46.3 km
- Speed
- 49 km/s (176,400 km/h)
- Light energy radiated
- 7.25 × 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 80 cm across and weighed around 800 kg.
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
- Jartai L6, China · 263 km away
- Nan Yang Pao L6, China · 328 km away
- Weikengquan H5, China · 337 km away
Saw a bright fireball yourself? Report what you saw.