Fireball, 28 February 2020
On 28 February 2020 at 09:30 UTC, sensors detected a fireball above 45.7°N, 15.1°E, 34.5 km up. It released energy equal to about 0.31 kilotons of TNT.
The numbers
- Date and time (UTC)
- 28 February 2020, 09:30
- Location
- 45.7°N, 15.1°E
- Height at peak brightness
- 34.5 km
- Speed
- 21.5 km/s (77,400 km/h)
- Light energy radiated
- 10.4 × 10¹⁰ joules
- Estimated total energy
- 0.31 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 1.5 metres across and weighed around 5.6 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.
Known meteorites nearest this point
- Slavetic H5, Croatia · 39 km away
- Javorje Iron, IIIAB, Slovenia · 87 km away
- Milena L6, Croatia · 94 km away
Saw a bright fireball yourself? Report what you saw.