Fireball, 28 November 2020
On 28 November 2020 at 16:34 UTC, sensors detected a fireball above 33.3°N, 135.1°E, 28.1 km up. It released energy equal to about 0.073 kilotons of TNT.
The numbers
- Date and time (UTC)
- 28 November 2020, 16:34
- Location
- 33.3°N, 135.1°E
- Height at peak brightness
- 28.1 km
- Speed
- 19.6 km/s (70,560 km/h)
- Light energy radiated
- 2 × 10¹⁰ joules
- Estimated total energy
- 0.073 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 metres across and weighed around 1.6 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
- Zaisho Pallasite, PMG-an, Japan · 128 km away
- Kokubunji L6, Japan · 154 km away
- Kobe CK4, Japan · 159 km away
Saw a bright fireball yourself? Report what you saw.