Fireball, 10 January 2025
On 10 January 2025 at 21:11 UTC, sensors detected a fireball above 47.2°N, 106.3°E, 34.6 km up. It released energy equal to about 0.095 kilotons of TNT.
The numbers
- Date and time (UTC)
- 10 January 2025, 21:11
- Location
- 47.2°N, 106.3°E
- Height at peak brightness
- 34.6 km
- Speed
- 14 km/s (50,400 km/h)
- Light energy radiated
- 2.7 × 10¹⁰ joules
- Estimated total energy
- 0.095 kilotons of TNT
What does that mean?
That is a small burst by fireball standards: the Chelyabinsk fireball of 2013 released about 440 kilotons. If the object was stony rock entering at this speed, it was roughly 1.4 metres across and weighed around 4.1 tonnes.
Most objects of this kind break up and burn away high in the atmosphere, but larger ones can drop small meteorites. About 70% of Earth is ocean, so most fireballs like this fall into the sea.
Known meteorites nearest this point
- Sargiin Gobi Iron, IAB complex, Mongolia · 141 km away
- Tugalin-Bulen H6, Mongolia · 205 km away
- Manlai Iron, ungrouped, Mongolia · 319 km away
Saw a bright fireball yourself? Report what you saw.