Fireball, 23 March 2020
On 23 March 2020 at 16:51 UTC, sensors detected a fireball above 24.4°S, 67.9°W, 25 km up. It released energy equal to about 0.39 kilotons of TNT.
The numbers
- Date and time (UTC)
- 23 March 2020, 16:51
- Location
- 24.4°S, 67.9°W
- Height at peak brightness
- 25 km
- Speed
- Not released
- Light energy radiated
- 13.3 × 10¹⁰ joules
- Estimated total energy
- 0.39 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 1.7 metres across and weighed around 8.2 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
- Tambo del Meteorito H6, Chile · 63 km away
- Monturaqui Iron, IAB?, Chile · 65 km away
- Salar de Atacama L6, Chile · 93 km away
Saw a bright fireball yourself? Report what you saw.