Fireball, 29 November 2024
On 29 November 2024 at 22:18 UTC, sensors detected a fireball above 74.6°S, 4.4°E, 68.5 km up. It released energy equal to about 0.095 kilotons of TNT.
The numbers
- Date and time (UTC)
- 29 November 2024, 22:18
- Location
- 74.6°S, 4.4°E
- Height at peak brightness
- 68.5 km
- Speed
- Not released
- Light energy radiated
- 2.7 × 10¹⁰ joules
- Estimated total energy
- 0.095 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 a typical 20 km/s, it was roughly 1.1 metres across and weighed around 2 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.