Fireball, 31 May 2025
On 31 May 2025 at 23:06 UTC, sensors detected a fireball above 21.1°N, 98.8°W, 47.3 km up. It released energy equal to about 1 kilotons of TNT.
The numbers
- Date and time (UTC)
- 31 May 2025, 23:06
- Location
- 21.1°N, 98.8°W
- Height at peak brightness
- 47.3 km
- Speed
- 17.8 km/s (64,080 km/h)
- Light energy radiated
- 38.6 × 10¹⁰ joules
- Estimated total energy
- 1 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 2.6 metres across and weighed around 26 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
- Pacula L6, Mexico · 52 km away
- Queretaro H4, Mexico · 172 km away
- Toluca Iron, IAB-sLL, Mexico · 188 km away
Saw a bright fireball yourself? Report what you saw.