The tumid fireball since theChelyabinsk blastin February 2013 has been reveal , detect on February 6 at 2 p.m. UTC in the South Atlantic Ocean . But this event befall in the midsection of the ocean , about 1,850 kilometers ( 1,150 miles ) south - E of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil , so it likely was n’t see flat or caught on camera .
Data released by NASA shows that the meteor released an energy equivalent to 12,000 t ( 13,000 gobs ) of TNT , and it was go at over 15.5 kilometers per second ( 9.6 miles per secondly ) . It disintegrated at a height of about 31 kilometer ( 19 miles ) and it had a diameter of about 7 meters ( 23 feet ) , calculated ground on itskinetic energy .
While 12,000 MT of TNT seems like a very large number , it pales in comparison to theChelyabinsk impingement , which was 40 times more industrious and put out 450,000 tonnes ( 500,000 tons ) of TNT . The Chelyabinsk issue , although not fabulously life-threatening in itself , wound over 1,000 people due to windows bump . If this event had fall out over a populated orbit , it would have at most rattled some windows and scared a few people , according toPhil Plait at Slate .
Relative location of the powerhouse . Google Maps
The report and selective information on the result were given to NASA by the U.S. politics . Detecting atmospheric explosions is most likely a in high spirits priority of several leg of the U.S. military , so a ball of fire of such order of magnitude could have been easily pick up . Satellite imagery and infrasound atmospherical microphones could both be used to detect an impact like this .
These events , although strange , are not as rare as one might mean . Meteoroids of about 10 meters ( 33 feet ) in diameter hit Earth about once every 10 years , although some indicate that it might be close to a yearly occurrence , and we get hit with much pocket-sized debris every day . NASA has a inclination of some of the brightest fireball , the NASA ’s Fireball and Bolide page , but it ’s sure enough not an thorough list as detection is not leisurely .
meteor are made up of fragment of asteroids and comets that bear upon our planet atmosphere . They sunburn quickly on their way to the primer and most of them are disintegrated high in the atmosphere . If fragments manage to reach the ground , they are called meteorites .
[ H / T : Slate.com ]
