A preliminary analysis of the Shangri-La Bolide on 2017 Oct 4

Abstract

At 12:07 UT (8:07 pm China Standard Time) on 2017 Oct 4, a bright bolide was widely observed in the Shangri-La region of the Province of Yunnan, China (Figure 1). The event was well observed by the general public as it took place on the night of the Mid Autumn Festival, which is associated with moon gazing. Sonic booms and ground shaking were reported in an area of about a thousand square kilometers northwest of Shangri-La City. Data from U.S. government sensors suggests that the impact energy of the event was approximately 0.54 kt TNT equivalent, with the terminus of the bolide positioned at 28.1°N, 99.4°E. This is the largest observed bolide event over land since the bolide event that took place in Mauritania on 2016 Jun 27 (1.2 kt).