Fireball, 25 September 2018
On 25 September 2018 at 14:10 UTC, sensors detected a fireball above 23.5°S, 56.8°E, 33 km up. It released energy equal to about 1.9 kilotons of TNT.
The numbers
- Date and time (UTC)
- 25 September 2018, 14:10
- Location
- 23.5°S, 56.8°E
- Height at peak brightness
- 33 km
- Speed
- 16.5 km/s (59,400 km/h)
- Light energy radiated
- 80.8 × 10¹⁰ joules
- Estimated total energy
- 1.9 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 this speed, it was roughly 3.3 metres across and weighed around 58 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
- Sainte Rose H3.6 · 281 km away
- Mauritius L6 · 390 km away
Saw a bright fireball yourself? Report what you saw.