Fireball, 25 May 2019
On 25 May 2019 at 06:44 UTC, sensors detected a fireball above 19.2°S, 89.4°E, 29.2 km up. It released energy equal to about 0.35 kilotons of TNT.
The numbers
- Date and time (UTC)
- 25 May 2019, 06:44
- Location
- 19.2°S, 89.4°E
- Height at peak brightness
- 29.2 km
- Speed
- 15.8 km/s (56,880 km/h)
- Light energy radiated
- 11.8 × 10¹⁰ joules
- Estimated total energy
- 0.35 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.
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.
Saw a bright fireball yourself? Report what you saw.