Fireball, 5 December 2023
On 5 December 2023 at 23:10 UTC, sensors detected a fireball above 10.0°N, 42.9°E, 24.1 km up. It released energy equal to about 0.076 kilotons of TNT.
The numbers
- Date and time (UTC)
- 5 December 2023, 23:10
- Location
- 10.0°N, 42.9°E
- Height at peak brightness
- 24.1 km
- Speed
- 20.6 km/s (74,160 km/h)
- Light energy radiated
- 2.1 × 10¹⁰ joules
- Estimated total energy
- 0.076 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 this speed, it was roughly 98 cm across and weighed around 1.5 tonnes.
It penetrated deep into the atmosphere, which makes it more likely that fragments reached the ground as meteorites. About 70% of Earth is ocean, so most fireballs like this fall into the sea.
Known meteorites nearest this point
- Gursum H4/5, Ethiopia · 88 km away
- Bouri H4, Ethiopia · 257 km away
- Ankober H4, Ethiopia · 353 km away
Saw a bright fireball yourself? Report what you saw.