Fireball, 18 February 2017
On 18 February 2017 at 19:48 UTC, sensors detected a fireball above 6.2°N, 60.4°E, 38 km up. It released energy equal to about 0.85 kilotons of TNT.
The numbers
- Date and time (UTC)
- 18 February 2017, 19:48
- Location
- 6.2°N, 60.4°E
- Height at peak brightness
- 38 km
- Speed
- 24.2 km/s (87,120 km/h)
- Light energy radiated
- 32.1 × 10¹⁰ joules
- Estimated total energy
- 0.85 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 2 metres across and weighed around 12 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.