Fireball, 16 January 2020
On 16 January 2020 at 09:31 UTC, sensors detected a fireball above 71.7°S, 116.4°W, 27.8 km up. It released energy equal to about 0.17 kilotons of TNT.
The numbers
- Date and time (UTC)
- 16 January 2020, 09:31
- Location
- 71.7°S, 116.4°W
- Height at peak brightness
- 27.8 km
- Speed
- 12.9 km/s (46,440 km/h)
- Light energy radiated
- 5.14 × 10¹⁰ joules
- Estimated total energy
- 0.17 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 1.8 metres across and weighed around 8.5 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.