Fireball, 31 January 2026
On 31 January 2026 at 18:07 UTC, sensors detected a fireball above 4.1°N, 173.4°W, 32 km up. It released energy equal to about 0.19 kilotons of TNT.
The numbers
- Date and time (UTC)
- 31 January 2026, 18:07
- Location
- 4.1°N, 173.4°W
- Height at peak brightness
- 32 km
- Speed
- Not released
- Light energy radiated
- 5.8 × 10¹⁰ joules
- Estimated total energy
- 0.19 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 a typical 20 km/s, it was roughly 1.4 metres across and weighed around 4 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.
Saw a bright fireball yourself? Report what you saw.