Fireball, 27 March 2019
On 27 March 2019 at 12:50 UTC, sensors detected a fireball above 41.8°S, 7.4°W. It released energy equal to about 0.08 kilotons of TNT.
The numbers
- Date and time (UTC)
- 27 March 2019, 12:50
- Location
- 41.8°S, 7.4°W
- Height at peak brightness
- Not released
- Speed
- Not released
- Light energy radiated
- 2.21 × 10¹⁰ joules
- Estimated total energy
- 0.08 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 a typical 20 km/s, it was roughly 1 metres across and weighed around 1.7 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.