Fireball, 11 July 2025
On 11 July 2025 at 01:48 UTC, sensors detected a fireball above 6.6°S, 167.5°W, 28 km up. It released energy equal to about 0.11 kilotons of TNT.
The numbers
- Date and time (UTC)
- 11 July 2025, 01:48
- Location
- 6.6°S, 167.5°W
- Height at peak brightness
- 28 km
- Speed
- 13.6 km/s (48,960 km/h)
- Light energy radiated
- 3.2 × 10¹⁰ joules
- Estimated total energy
- 0.11 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 1.5 metres across and weighed around 5 tonnes.
It penetrated deep into the atmosphere, which makes it more likely that fragments reached the ground as meteorites. About 70% of Earth is ocean, so most fireballs like this fall into the sea.
Saw a bright fireball yourself? Report what you saw.