Fireball, 31 January 2021
On 31 January 2021 at 02:59 UTC, sensors detected a fireball above 5.3°N, 115.2°E, 39.4 km up. It released energy equal to about 0.75 kilotons of TNT.
The numbers
- Date and time (UTC)
- 31 January 2021, 02:59
- Location
- 5.3°N, 115.2°E
- Height at peak brightness
- 39.4 km
- Speed
- 15.2 km/s (54,720 km/h)
- Light energy radiated
- 27.8 × 10¹⁰ joules
- Estimated total energy
- 0.75 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 2.6 metres across and weighed around 27 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.
Saw a bright fireball yourself? Report what you saw.