Fireball, 21 February 2018
On 21 February 2018 at 01:28 UTC, sensors detected a fireball above 13.5°S, 37.1°W, 31.5 km up. It released energy equal to about 0.24 kilotons of TNT.
The numbers
- Date and time (UTC)
- 21 February 2018, 01:28
- Location
- 13.5°S, 37.1°W
- Height at peak brightness
- 31.5 km
- Speed
- 13.1 km/s (47,160 km/h)
- Light energy radiated
- 7.52 × 10¹⁰ joules
- Estimated total energy
- 0.24 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.
Known meteorites nearest this point
- Quijingue Pallasite, PMG, Brazil · 383 km away
- Vitoria da Conquista Iron, IVA, Brazil · 429 km away
- Bendegó Iron, IC, Brazil · 440 km away
Saw a bright fireball yourself? Report what you saw.