Fireball, 21 June 2023
On 21 June 2023 at 19:39 UTC, sensors detected a fireball above 12.4°N, 62.8°E, 40.4 km up. It released energy equal to about 1.4 kilotons of TNT.
The numbers
- Date and time (UTC)
- 21 June 2023, 19:39
- Location
- 12.4°N, 62.8°E
- Height at peak brightness
- 40.4 km
- Speed
- 16.5 km/s (59,400 km/h)
- Light energy radiated
- 54.7 × 10¹⁰ joules
- Estimated total energy
- 1.4 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 3 metres across and weighed around 43 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
- Jiddat Arkad 002 H3-5, Oman · 927 km away
- Jiddat Arkad 001 L6, Oman · 983 km away
- Jiddat Arkad 003 L5, Oman · 999 km away
Saw a bright fireball yourself? Report what you saw.