Fireball, 17 November 2018
On 17 November 2018 at 21:48 UTC, sensors detected a fireball above 47.3°N, 172.9°W, 32.5 km up. It released energy equal to about 0.54 kilotons of TNT.
The numbers
- Date and time (UTC)
- 17 November 2018, 21:48
- Location
- 47.3°N, 172.9°W
- Height at peak brightness
- 32.5 km
- Speed
- 19.1 km/s (68,760 km/h)
- Light energy radiated
- 19.4 × 10¹⁰ joules
- Estimated total energy
- 0.54 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.
Saw a bright fireball yourself? Report what you saw.