Fireball, 7 February 2017
On 7 February 2017 at 17:37 UTC, sensors detected a fireball above 27.4°S, 14.8°W, 54 km up. It released energy equal to about 0.073 kilotons of TNT.
The numbers
- Date and time (UTC)
- 7 February 2017, 17:37
- Location
- 27.4°S, 14.8°W
- Height at peak brightness
- 54 km
- Speed
- Not released
- Light energy radiated
- 2 × 10¹⁰ joules
- Estimated total energy
- 0.073 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 99 cm across and weighed around 1.5 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.