Fireball, 18 May 2020
On 18 May 2020 at 01:11 UTC, sensors detected a fireball above 38.7°S, 77.2°E, 25 km up. It released energy equal to about 0.4 kilotons of TNT.
The numbers
- Date and time (UTC)
- 18 May 2020, 01:11
- Location
- 38.7°S, 77.2°E
- Height at peak brightness
- 25 km
- Speed
- Not released
- Light energy radiated
- 13.7 × 10¹⁰ joules
- Estimated total energy
- 0.4 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 8.4 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.