Fireball, 5 August 2023
On 5 August 2023 at 19:54 UTC, sensors detected a fireball above 19.9°N, 131.7°W, 44 km up. It released energy equal to about 3.8 kilotons of TNT.
The numbers
- Date and time (UTC)
- 5 August 2023, 19:54
- Location
- 19.9°N, 131.7°W
- Height at peak brightness
- 44 km
- Speed
- 21.8 km/s (78,480 km/h)
- Light energy radiated
- 172 × 10¹⁰ joules
- Estimated total energy
- 3.8 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 3.5 metres across and weighed around 67 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.
Saw a bright fireball yourself? Report what you saw.