Fireball, 19 November 2017
On 19 November 2017 at 04:17 UTC, sensors detected a fireball above 24.2°S, 135.0°E, 33.3 km up. It released energy equal to about 0.098 kilotons of TNT.
The numbers
- Date and time (UTC)
- 19 November 2017, 04:17
- Location
- 24.2°S, 135.0°E
- Height at peak brightness
- 33.3 km
- Speed
- 11.4 km/s (41,040 km/h)
- Light energy radiated
- 2.8 × 10¹⁰ joules
- Estimated total energy
- 0.098 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 1.6 metres across and weighed around 6.3 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
- Arltunga Iron, IID-an, Australia · 102 km away
- Mount Sir Charles Iron, IVA, Australia · 106 km away
- Alikatnima Iron, ungrouped, Australia · 132 km away
Saw a bright fireball yourself? Report what you saw.