Asteroids · fireballs

When the sky lights up

Since 1988 US Government sensors have detected the brightest meteors, bodies a few metres across that explode in the upper atmosphere. Each spike is one; its size follows the estimated impact energy.

≥ 1 kt
0,1–1 kt
< 0,1 kt

Fireballs catalogued

888

since 1988 (CNEOS)

Most energetic

441

kt · 2013-02-15

Most recent

2026-10-04

≈ 0.18 kt of impact energy

Fireballs and bolides reported by US Government sensors (CNEOS) · NASA/JPL, public domain (cite JPL SSD/CNEOS) · 10/23/26

CNEOS positions and energies; heights proportional to energy (logarithmic scale).

Fireball map Fireballs and bolides reported by US Government sensors (CNEOS) · NASA/JPL, public domain (cite JPL SSD/CNEOS) · 10/23/26

Fireballs from the CNEOS database (US Government sensors); coverage is not uniform and small events are not all detected.

Fireballs detected per year Fireballs and bolides reported by US Government sensors (CNEOS) · NASA/JPL, public domain (cite JPL SSD/CNEOS) · 10/23/26

Number of fireballs in the CNEOS database per year; the current year is incomplete (dashed). The trend mostly reflects sensors and reporting.

The ten most energetic

Date (TDB)	Location	Impact energy	Radiated energy	Altitude	Speed (km/s)
2013-02-15 03:20:26	54,8°, 61,1°	441 kt	37500 × 10¹⁰ J	23.3 km	18.6
2018-12-18 23:48:18	56,9°, 172,4°	49 kt	3130 × 10¹⁰ J	26 km	13.6
2009-10-08 02:57:14	-4,2°, 120,6°	33 kt	1980 × 10¹⁰ J	19.1 km	19.2
1994-02-01 22:38:09	2,7°, 164,1°	30 kt	1820 × 10¹⁰ J	— km	—
2009-11-21 20:53:29	-22,0°, 29,2°	20 kt	1120 × 10¹⁰ J	38 km	32.1
2004-10-07 13:14:43	-27,3°, 71,5°	18 kt	1040 × 10¹⁰ J	35 km	19.2
2010-07-06 23:54:43	-34,1°, -174,5°	14 kt	751 × 10¹⁰ J	26 km	15.7
2006-12-09 06:31:14	26,2°, 26,0°	14 kt	741 × 10¹⁰ J	26.5 km	15.9
1988-04-15 03:03:10	-4,1°, 124,3°	14 kt	758 × 10¹⁰ J	— km	—
2016-02-06 13:55:09	-30,4°, -25,5°	13 kt	685 × 10¹⁰ J	31 km	15.6

Method and sources

Daily import of the JPL/CNEOS Fireball API; the impact energy (kilotons of TNT) is estimated by JPL from the radiated light energy.

Reading these data

The Chelyabinsk fireball (2013, ≈ 440 kt) is the most energetic in the database; most events release less than a kiloton above 20 km altitude, with no damage on the ground.

SOURCES OF THIS PAGE

Fireballs and bolides reported by US Government sensors (CNEOS): NASA/JPL CNEOS Fireball and Bolide Data (US Government sensors), 1988 onwards. · source page ↗
Licence : NASA/JPL, public domain (cite JPL SSD/CNEOS) · retrieved on Oct 23, 2026 · SHA-256 0d6c55e59430…

Fireballs Bright meteors detected by US Government sensors since 1988

When the sky lights up