Fireball, 25 August 2024
On 25 August 2024 at 06:50 UTC, sensors detected a fireball above 33.6°S, 24.5°E, 38.2 km up. It released energy equal to about 0.092 kilotons of TNT.
The numbers
- Date and time (UTC)
- 25 August 2024, 06:50
- Location
- 33.6°S, 24.5°E
- Height at peak brightness
- 38.2 km
- Speed
- 20.1 km/s (72,360 km/h)
- Light energy radiated
- 2.6 × 10¹⁰ joules
- Estimated total energy
- 0.092 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 1.1 metres across and weighed around 1.9 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
- Kouga Mountains Iron, IIIAB, South Africa · 46 km away
- Cape of Good Hope Iron, IVB, South Africa · 139 km away
- Wittekrantz L5, South Africa · 186 km away
Saw a bright fireball yourself? Report what you saw.