Fireball, 20 October 2021
On 20 October 2021 at 08:41 UTC, sensors detected a fireball above 13.8°N, 140.4°W, 28 km up. It released energy equal to about 0.19 kilotons of TNT.
The numbers
- Date and time (UTC)
- 20 October 2021, 08:41
- Location
- 13.8°N, 140.4°W
- Height at peak brightness
- 28 km
- Speed
- Not released
- Light energy radiated
- 5.91 × 10¹⁰ joules
- Estimated total energy
- 0.19 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 1.4 metres across and weighed around 4 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
- Clarion H4 · 326 km away
- Clipperton H3.5 · 366 km away
Saw a bright fireball yourself? Report what you saw.