Fireball, 19 October 2020
On 19 October 2020 at 07:05 UTC, sensors detected a fireball above 48.6°N, 93.9°E, 40.7 km up. It released energy equal to about 0.08 kilotons of TNT.
The numbers
- Date and time (UTC)
- 19 October 2020, 07:05
- Location
- 48.6°N, 93.9°E
- Height at peak brightness
- 40.7 km
- Speed
- Not released
- Light energy radiated
- 2.21 × 10¹⁰ joules
- Estimated total energy
- 0.08 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 metres across and weighed around 1.7 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
- Chinga Iron, ungrouped, Russia · 276 km away
- Cheder Iron, IID, Russia · 330 km away
- Adzhi-Bogdo (stone) LL3-6, Mongolia · 430 km away
Saw a bright fireball yourself? Report what you saw.