NASA broke that meteor fireball on the Bering Sea

A large meteoroid exploded over the Bering Sea on 18 December, releasing an estimated 173 kilotonnes of energy. almost nobody noticed thanks to its remote location. On Friday, NASA shared images captured by its Earth observation. Terra satellite showing a view of the massive fireball in action.

The picture shows the smoky path of the meteor on the sea. It looks like a dark spot on the clouds.

NASA has also published a GIF. "The orange cloud left by the fireball overheating the airflow is visible below and to the right of the GIF center," says NASA.

The MISR instrument, also on Terra, also saw the great "fireball" – the term used for exceptionally bright meteors – visible over a large area – as it exploded – about 16 km above the Bering Sea, far enough to pose no danger. pic.twitter.com/lyjyZKBZOm

– NASA Earth (@NASAEarth) March 22, 2019

The space agency said the fireball had released more than 10 times the energy of the Hiroshima atomic bomb dating back to World War II. It is less powerful than the devastating fireball that hit Chelyabinsk in Russia in 2013, but it is still the second largest meteor explosion of recent decades.

The fireball of the Bering Sea was far enough away from civilization not to touch any human being, but it bafflingly reminds of the power of the rocks of space that are coming.

That's why NASA is working on ways to protect our planet from lost asteroids this could potentially be much more dangerous than the recent meteor.