Fireball, 6 December 2019
On 6 December 2019 at 10:19 UTC, sensors detected a fireball above 3.3°S, 37.7°W, 19.5 km up. It released energy equal to about 0.14 kilotons of TNT.
The numbers
- Date and time (UTC)
- 6 December 2019, 10:19
- Location
- 3.3°S, 37.7°W
- Height at peak brightness
- 19.5 km
- Speed
- Not released
- Light energy radiated
- 4.08 × 10¹⁰ joules
- Estimated total energy
- 0.14 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 1.2 metres across and weighed around 2.9 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
- Macau H5, Brazil · 240 km away
- Cratheús (1931) Iron, IVA, Brazil · 379 km away
- Parambu LL5, Brazil · 466 km away
Saw a bright fireball yourself? Report what you saw.