Fireball, 9 March 2017
On 9 March 2017 at 04:16 UTC, sensors detected a fireball above 40.5°N, 18.0°W, 23 km up. It released energy equal to about 1.1 kilotons of TNT.
The numbers
- Date and time (UTC)
- 9 March 2017, 04:16
- Location
- 40.5°N, 18.0°W
- Height at peak brightness
- 23 km
- Speed
- 36.5 km/s (131,400 km/h)
- Light energy radiated
- 41.3 × 10¹⁰ joules
- Estimated total energy
- 1.1 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 1.6 metres across and weighed around 6.9 tonnes.
It penetrated deep into the atmosphere, which makes it more likely that fragments reached the ground as 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.