Fireball, 11 March 2017
On 11 March 2017 at 04:51 UTC, sensors detected a fireball above 28.3°N, 60.2°W, 28 km up. It released energy equal to about 2.9 kilotons of TNT.
The numbers
- Date and time (UTC)
- 11 March 2017, 04:51
- Location
- 28.3°N, 60.2°W
- Height at peak brightness
- 28 km
- Speed
- Not released
- Light energy radiated
- 127 × 10¹⁰ joules
- Estimated total energy
- 2.9 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 a typical 20 km/s, it was roughly 3.4 metres across and weighed around 61 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.