Fireball, 27 March 2025
On 27 March 2025 at 16:05 UTC, sensors detected a fireball above 14.3°N, 111.5°W, 38.1 km up. It released energy equal to about 2.4 kilotons of TNT.
The numbers
- Date and time (UTC)
- 27 March 2025, 16:05
- Location
- 14.3°N, 111.5°W
- Height at peak brightness
- 38.1 km
- Speed
- 21.3 km/s (76,680 km/h)
- Light energy radiated
- 104.5 × 10¹⁰ joules
- Estimated total energy
- 2.4 kilotons of TNT
What does that mean?
That is a large 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 3 metres across and weighed around 44 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
- Tomatlan H6, Mexico · 933 km away
Saw a bright fireball yourself? Report what you saw.