Fireball, 30 January 2026
On 30 January 2026 at 10:25 UTC, sensors detected a fireball above 45.0°S, 174.5°E, 89 km up. It released energy equal to about 0.12 kilotons of TNT.
The numbers
- Date and time (UTC)
- 30 January 2026, 10:25
- Location
- 45.0°S, 174.5°E
- Height at peak brightness
- 89 km
- Speed
- 71.1 km/s (255,960 km/h)
- Light energy radiated
- 3.4 × 10¹⁰ joules
- Estimated total energy
- 0.12 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 50 cm across and weighed around 200 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
- Morven H4/5, New Zealand · 266 km away
- View Hill Iron, IIIAB, New Zealand · 270 km away
- Dunganville Iron, IIIAB, New Zealand · 372 km away
Saw a bright fireball yourself? Report what you saw.