The 2015 Kerala

fireball Fireball may refer to: Science * Fireball (meteor), a brighter-than-usual meteor * Ball lightning, an atmospheric electrical phenomenon * ''Bassia scoparia'', a plant species Arts and entertainment Films * ''The Fireball'', a 1950 film starring ...

was a

meteor air burst A meteor air burst is a type of air burst in which a meteor explodes after entering a planetary body's atmosphere. This fate leads them to be called fireballs or bolides, with the brightest air bursts known as superbolides. Such meteoroids were ...

that occurred over

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

state in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

on 27 February 2015.

Initial reports

The fireball, reportedly accompanied by a

sonic boom A sonic boom is a sound associated with shock waves created when an object travels through the air faster than the speed of sound. Sonic booms generate enormous amounts of sound energy, sounding similar to an explosion or a thunderclap to t ...

, was noticed across the sky in parts of

Thrissur Thrissur (), formerly Trichur, also known by its historical name Thrissivaperur, is a city and the headquarters of the Thrissur district in Kerala, India. It is the third largest urban agglomeration in Kerala after Kochi and Kozhikode, and t ...

Ernakulam Ernakulam () is the Central Business District of the city of Kochi in Kerala, India and has lent its name to the Ernakulam district. Many major establishments, including the Kerala High Court, the office of the Kochi Municipal Corporation a ...

Palakkad Palakkad (), formerly known as Palghat, historically known as Palakkattussery is a city and municipality in the Indian state of Kerala. It is the administrative headquarters of the Palakkad District. Palakkad is most densely populated municipal ...

Kozhikode Kozhikode (), also known in English as Calicut, is a city along the Malabar Coast in the state of Kerala in India. It has a corporation limit population of 609,224 and a metropolitan population of more than 2 million, making it the second la ...

and

Malappuram Malappuram (also Malapuram) () is a city in the Indian state of Kerala, spread over an area of including the surrounding suburban areas. The first municipality in the district formed in 1970, Malappuram serves as the administrative headquarter ...

districts of

at around 22:00 PM

IST Ist or IST may refer to: Information Science and Technology * Bachelor's or Master's degree in Information Science and Technology * Graduate School / Faculty of Information Science and Technology, Hokkaido University, Japan * Graduate School ...

(local time, UTC +5.30 hours) for about 5 to 6 seconds. Initial reports suggested that it may have been a part of a rocket body used to launch the

Yaogan Yaogan () is the cover name used by the People's Republic of China to refer to its military reconnaissance satellites. Yaogan satellites are largely known to primarily support the People's Liberation Army's Strategic Support Force (PLASSF), fo ...

Weixing-26, a Chinese satellite launched in December 2014. Later, the Meteorology Department and Disaster Management Authority of Kerala refuted the theory stating that if this was the case, it should have been spotted by the meteorology radars.

Impact sites

Meteorites (meteoroid debris) hit multiple places in

district. Small fragments which are believed to be parts of the

meteoroid A meteoroid () is a small rocky or metallic body in outer space. Meteoroids are defined as objects significantly smaller than asteroids, ranging in size from grains to objects up to a meter wide. Objects smaller than this are classified as micr ...

were recovered from Valamboor, near

Kolenchery Kolenchery is a town and the easternmost suburb of the city of Kochi in Kerala, India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous c ...

, and

Kuruppampady Kuruppampady is situated about five kilometers from Perumbavoor on the Aluva-Munnar road, in Kunnathunad Taluk, Ernakulam district, Kerala, India. Location It is surrounded by important places viz. Perumbavoor, Kalady, Malayattoor, Angamaly ...

, near

Perumbavoor Perumbavoor (, Malayalam: പെരുമ്പാവൂർ) is a historic place located at Bank of Periyar (Poorna River) in Ernakulam District in the Indian state of Kerala. It is a part of the Kochi metropolitan area It lies in the n ...

. A team of scientists from the State Emergency Operations Centre (SEOC) and

Geological Survey of India The Geological Survey of India (GSI) is a scientific agency of India. It was founded in 1851, as a Government of India organization under the Ministry of Mines, one of the oldest of such organisations in the world and the second oldest survey ...

visited the impact sites and collected samples for analysis. A preliminary report indicated that the fragments' chemical composition consist of

nickel Nickel is a chemical element with symbol Ni and atomic number 28. It is a silvery-white lustrous metal with a slight golden tinge. Nickel is a hard and ductile transition metal. Pure nickel is chemically reactive but large pieces are slow to ...

and

iron ore Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the fo ...

References

{{2015 in space 2015 in India Modern Earth impact events Meteorites found in India History of Kerala (1947–present) 2015 in space February 2015 events in India Disasters in Kerala History of Ernakulam district

Initial reports

Impact sites

See also

References