Fireball, 8 September 2015
On 8 September 2015 at 13:46 UTC, sensors detected a fireball above 6.3°N, 29.9°E, 44.4 km up. It released energy equal to about 0.074 kilotons of TNT.
The numbers
- Date and time (UTC)
- 8 September 2015, 13:46
- Location
- 6.3°N, 29.9°E
- Height at peak brightness
- 44.4 km
- Speed
- 16.1 km/s (57,960 km/h)
- Light energy radiated
- 2.02 × 10¹⁰ joules
- Estimated total energy
- 0.074 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 1.1 metres across and weighed around 2.4 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.
Known meteorites nearest this point
- Maridi H6, South Sudan · 195 km away
- Essebi C2-ung, Uganda · 394 km away
- Malakal L5, South Sudan · 410 km away
Saw a bright fireball yourself? Report what you saw.