Fireball, 11 September 2026
On 11 September 2026 at 01:12 UTC, sensors detected a fireball above 54.4°N, 100.1°W, 38 km up. It released energy equal to about 0.67 kilotons of TNT.
The numbers
- Date and time (UTC)
- 11 September 2026, 01:12
- Location
- 54.4°N, 100.1°W
- Height at peak brightness
- 38 km
- Speed
- 20.7 km/s (74,520 km/h)
- Light energy radiated
- 24.6 × 10¹⁰ joules
- Estimated total energy
- 0.67 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 2 metres across and weighed around 13 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.
Known meteorites nearest this point
- Wynyard H5, Canada · 390 km away
- Annaheim Iron, IAB-sLL, Canada · 391 km away
- Red Deer Hill L6, Canada · 405 km away
Saw a bright fireball yourself? Report what you saw.