Fireball, 25 January 2021
On 25 January 2021 at 03:01 UTC, sensors detected a fireball above 38.5°N, 47.6°W, 19.1 km up. It released energy equal to about 0.23 kilotons of TNT.
The numbers
- Date and time (UTC)
- 25 January 2021, 03:01
- Location
- 38.5°N, 47.6°W
- Height at peak brightness
- 19.1 km
- Speed
- Not released
- Light energy radiated
- 7.26 × 10¹⁰ joules
- Estimated total energy
- 0.23 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 1.5 metres across and weighed around 4.8 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.