Fireball, 29 July 2021
On 29 July 2021 at 13:19 UTC, sensors detected a fireball above 42.4°N, 98.4°E, 26.4 km up. It released energy equal to about 0.13 kilotons of TNT.
The numbers
- Date and time (UTC)
- 29 July 2021, 13:19
- Location
- 42.4°N, 98.4°E
- Height at peak brightness
- 26.4 km
- Speed
- 14.7 km/s (52,920 km/h)
- Light energy radiated
- 3.7 × 10¹⁰ joules
- Estimated total energy
- 0.13 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 1.5 metres across and weighed around 5 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
- Weikengquan H5, China · 265 km away
- Noyan-Bogdo L6, Mongolia · 337 km away
- Adzhi-Bogdo (iron) Iron, IAB complex, Mongolia · 364 km away
Saw a bright fireball yourself? Report what you saw.