Fireball, 10 February 2020
On 10 February 2020 at 23:48 UTC, sensors detected a fireball above 28.2°N, 76.7°E, 41.7 km up. It released energy equal to about 0.048 kilotons of TNT.
The numbers
- Date and time (UTC)
- 10 February 2020, 23:48
- Location
- 28.2°N, 76.7°E
- Height at peak brightness
- 41.7 km
- Speed
- 31.7 km/s (114,120 km/h)
- Light energy radiated
- 1.24 × 10¹⁰ joules
- Estimated total energy
- 0.048 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 63 cm across and weighed around 400 kg.
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.
Known meteorites nearest this point
- Rewari L6, India · 3 km away
- Raghunathpura Iron, IIAB, India · 58 km away
- Bansur L6, India · 66 km away
Saw a bright fireball yourself? Report what you saw.