On October 4, 2017 around 8:07 PM local time, an extremely bright meteoroid fell over the northern

Yunnan Yunnan , () is a landlocked Provinces of China, province in Southwest China, the southwest of the People's Republic of China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 48.3 million (as of 2018). The capital of the province is ...

province of China, reaching maximum brightness roughly above the ground. The 8-second

superbolide A bolide is normally taken to mean an exceptionally bright meteor, but the term is subject to more than one definition, according to context. It may refer to any large crater-forming body, or to one that explodes in the atmosphere. It can be a ...

was widely recorded, as it fell in the late evening on the

Mid-Autumn Festival The Mid-Autumn Festival (Chinese: / ), also known as the Moon Festival or Mooncake Festival, is a traditional festival celebrated in Chinese culture. Similar holidays are celebrated in Japan (), Korea (), Vietnam (), and other countries in Eas ...

, a fairly popular festival in China.

Overview

Based on its incoming velocity of and energy, the original asteroid was likely between across, slightly smaller than the

2015 Thailand bolide On September 7, 2015, at about 08:40 local time a bolide meteor appeared over Thailand and burned up approximately 100 km (62 mi) above the ground. The meteor briefly flared up producing a green and orange glow before disappearing w ...

, which fell about 2 years previously, several hundred miles to the south. This is the largest recorded meteor to fall over China since the 2000 bolide, which radiated about of energy compared to the 2017 event's . While it was only the 5th most energetic impact event of 2017, it was the largest one to occur over land, and a populated area no less.

References

{{2017 in space 2017 in China Modern Earth impact events Meteoroids 2017 in outer space October 2017 events in China 21st-century astronomical events