Fireball, 20 October 2025
On 20 October 2025 at 13:31 UTC, sensors detected a fireball above 5.7°N, 135.2°W, 41 km up. It released energy equal to about 0.073 kilotons of TNT.
The numbers
- Date and time (UTC)
- 20 October 2025, 13:31
- Location
- 5.7°N, 135.2°W
- Height at peak brightness
- 41 km
- Speed
- 26.7 km/s (96,120 km/h)
- Light energy radiated
- 2 × 10¹⁰ joules
- Estimated total energy
- 0.073 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 82 cm across and weighed around 860 kg.
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
- Clipperton H3.5 · 726 km away
Saw a bright fireball yourself? Report what you saw.