Fireball, 18 December 2018
On 18 December 2018 at 23:48 UTC, sensors detected a fireball above 56.9°N, 172.4°E, 26 km up. It released energy equal to about 49 kilotons of TNT.
The numbers
- Date and time (UTC)
- 18 December 2018, 23:48
- Location
- 56.9°N, 172.4°E
- Height at peak brightness
- 26 km
- Speed
- 13.6 km/s (48,960 km/h)
- Light energy radiated
- 3130 × 10¹⁰ joules
- Estimated total energy
- 49 kilotons of TNT
What does that mean?
That is about 3.3 times the energy of the Hiroshima bomb (about 15 kilotons), released harmlessly high in the atmosphere. If the object was stony rock entering at this speed, it was roughly 11 metres across and weighed around 2220 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.
Known meteorites nearest this point
- Khatyrka CV3, Russia · 650 km away
Saw a bright fireball yourself? Report what you saw.