Fireball, 15 September 2022
On 15 September 2022 at 02:49 UTC, sensors detected a fireball above 22.7°N, 97.6°E, 31.5 km up. It released energy equal to about 0.096 kilotons of TNT.
The numbers
- Date and time (UTC)
- 15 September 2022, 02:49
- Location
- 22.7°N, 97.6°E
- Height at peak brightness
- 31.5 km
- Speed
- Not released
- Light energy radiated
- 2.74 × 10¹⁰ joules
- Estimated total energy
- 0.096 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 1.1 metres across and weighed around 2 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
- Nyaung Iron, IIIAB, Myanmar · 323 km away
- Mabwe-Khoywa L5, Myanmar · 416 km away
- Ban Cho Lae H5, Thailand · 428 km away
Saw a bright fireball yourself? Report what you saw.