Fireball, 17 November 2021
On 17 November 2021 at 15:53 UTC, sensors detected a fireball above 6.8°S, 119.1°E, 35 km up. It released energy equal to about 0.089 kilotons of TNT.
The numbers
- Date and time (UTC)
- 17 November 2021, 15:53
- Location
- 6.8°S, 119.1°E
- Height at peak brightness
- 35 km
- Speed
- 23 km/s (82,800 km/h)
- Light energy radiated
- 2.51 × 10¹⁰ joules
- Estimated total energy
- 0.089 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 96 cm across and weighed around 1.4 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.
Known meteorites nearest this point
Saw a bright fireball yourself? Report what you saw.