Huge meteor explodes in Earth's atmosphere

WASHINGTON — A fireball entered Earth's atmosphere and exploded with the energy of 173 kilotons of TNT, according to data collected by NASA.

The US Air Force reported a massive explosion just 25.6km above the Earth's atmosphere off the coast of Russia over the Bering Strait. The BBC reports the explosion took place last year on December 18.

According to NASA, the meteor entered Earth's atmosphere at 32 kilometers per second with an impact energy of roughly 173 kilotons. This is ten times the energy released by the Hiroshima atomic bomb.

Using NASA data, meteor specialist Peter Brown at Western University in Canada calculated that the meteor was 10 meters wide and weighed 1,400 tons. According to The Guardian, the explosion was recorded by a network of infrasound sensors which are used to detect covert nuclear bomb tests.

This meteor explosion was the third largest fireball to enter Earth's atmosphere in modern times, following the 2013 Chelyabinsk explosion and the Tunguska fireball in 1908. All of these explosions have occurred in Russia.