Fireball, 15 January 2020
On 15 January 2020 at 06:31 UTC, sensors detected a fireball above 23.7°S, 125.2°W, 31.5 km up. It released energy equal to about 0.56 kilotons of TNT.
The numbers
- Date and time (UTC)
- 15 January 2020, 06:31
- Location
- 23.7°S, 125.2°W
- Height at peak brightness
- 31.5 km
- Speed
- Not released
- Light energy radiated
- 20 × 10¹⁰ joules
- Estimated total energy
- 0.56 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 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.