Fireball, 10 December 2021
On 10 December 2021 at 01:19 UTC, sensors detected a fireball above 47.5°S, 172.6°E, 27.5 km up. It released energy equal to about 0.17 kilotons of TNT.
The numbers
- Date and time (UTC)
- 10 December 2021, 01:19
- Location
- 47.5°S, 172.6°E
- Height at peak brightness
- 27.5 km
- Speed
- Not released
- Light energy radiated
- 5.32 × 10¹⁰ joules
- Estimated total energy
- 0.17 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 1.3 metres across and weighed around 3.6 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
- Morven H4/5, New Zealand · 319 km away
- Makarewa L6, New Zealand · 345 km away
- View Hill Iron, IIIAB, New Zealand · 467 km away
Saw a bright fireball yourself? Report what you saw.