I wonder how big it was. Seems like it would have to be pretty big to be that bright, but maybe it's one of those things that defy our regular intuition.
The brightness is a function of momentum, meaning, it could be large or it could just be unfathomably fast.
Why momentum rather than kinetic energy?
What would create the brightness/light on such impact?
Energy dissipation. It's enough energy to temporarily heat the rock and the impactor to the point that they start glowing very brightly.
Rather than size, I wonder how much energy the impact released. Waiting for the videos that will do a simulation of what would have happened if this have hit earth.
I don't know, but compared to the scale of the gigantic crater that's visible in the image, whatever it was was pretty much nothing in the grand scheme.
The impact that made that huge crater must have been an amazing light show...
I've never thought of this before, but I imagine the ground could have glowed for minutes or hours, and been visible from Earth. That would have been quite something to see from a safe distance.
I bet it did. The dinosaurs were probably impressed.