Fireball, 10 May 2026
On 10 May 2026 at 16:57 UTC, sensors detected a fireball above 45.6°S, 109.8°W, 32.7 km up. It released energy equal to about 0.19 kilotons of TNT.
The numbers
- Date and time (UTC)
- 10 May 2026, 16:57
- Location
- 45.6°S, 109.8°W
- Height at peak brightness
- 32.7 km
- Speed
- 22.9 km/s (82,440 km/h)
- Light energy radiated
- 6 × 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 this speed, it was roughly 1.2 metres across and weighed around 3 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.