Fireball, 16 May 2016
On 16 May 2016 at 10:09 UTC, sensors detected a fireball above 3.2°N, 6.6°E, 41.7 km up. It released energy equal to about 1.2 kilotons of TNT.
The numbers
- Date and time (UTC)
- 16 May 2016, 10:09
- Location
- 3.2°N, 6.6°E
- Height at peak brightness
- 41.7 km
- Speed
- 12.2 km/s (43,920 km/h)
- Light energy radiated
- 48.8 × 10¹⁰ joules
- Estimated total energy
- 1.2 kilotons of TNT
What does that mean?
That is a large 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 3.5 metres across and weighed around 67 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
- Uwet Iron, IIAB, Nigeria · 295 km away
- Ohuma L5, Nigeria · 447 km away
- Udei Station Iron, IAB-ung, Nigeria · 553 km away
Saw a bright fireball yourself? Report what you saw.