Fireball, 22 January 2023
On 22 January 2023 at 17:11 UTC, sensors detected a fireball above 3.5°N, 76.2°W, 61 km up. It released energy equal to about 0.072 kilotons of TNT.
The numbers
- Date and time (UTC)
- 22 January 2023, 17:11
- Location
- 3.5°N, 76.2°W
- Height at peak brightness
- 61 km
- Speed
- Not released
- Light energy radiated
- 1.98 × 10¹⁰ joules
- Estimated total energy
- 0.072 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 99 cm across and weighed around 1.5 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
- Cali H/L4, Colombia · 36 km away
- Santa Rosa Iron, IC, Colombia · 445 km away
- Daule L5, Ecuador · 729 km away
Saw a bright fireball yourself? Report what you saw.