Fireball, 15 April 2023
On 15 April 2023 at 08:21 UTC, sensors detected a fireball above 20.1°S, 36.0°E, 41.4 km up. It released energy equal to about 6.5 kilotons of TNT.
The numbers
- Date and time (UTC)
- 15 April 2023, 08:21
- Location
- 20.1°S, 36.0°E
- Height at peak brightness
- 41.4 km
- Speed
- 17.2 km/s (61,920 km/h)
- Light energy radiated
- 321 × 10¹⁰ joules
- Estimated total energy
- 6.5 kilotons of TNT
What does that mean?
That is a large 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 4.9 metres across and weighed around 180 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
- Magombedze H3-5, Zimbabwe · 460 km away
- Mangwendi LL6, Zimbabwe · 537 km away
- Machinga L6, Malawi · 549 km away
Saw a bright fireball yourself? Report what you saw.