Fireball, 18 June 2024
On 18 June 2024 at 13:51 UTC, sensors detected a fireball above 44.3°N, 173.2°E, 44.3 km up. It released energy equal to about 1.2 kilotons of TNT.
The numbers
- Date and time (UTC)
- 18 June 2024, 13:51
- Location
- 44.3°N, 173.2°E
- Height at peak brightness
- 44.3 km
- Speed
- 35.4 km/s (127,440 km/h)
- Light energy radiated
- 49.1 × 10¹⁰ joules
- Estimated total energy
- 1.2 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 1.7 metres across and weighed around 8 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.