☄️ Impacts

When the solar system comes to us. A guide to the meteorites, craters and airbursts that have struck Earth — from world-changing ancient impacts to recent witnessed falls and the fast-growing list of asteroids spotted before they hit — and the science that reads their stories. Below, a live feed of the latest fireballs detected entering the atmosphere.

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Recent fireballs & bolides

Bright meteors (bolides) detected entering the atmosphere by U.S. Government sensors, reported by NASA/JPL CNEOS. Impact energy is in kilotons of TNT — for scale, the Hiroshima bomb was ~15 kt and the Chelyabinsk airburst ~500 kt.

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Studies & further reading

Meteoritical Bulletin Database
The official catalogue of all ~80,000 classified meteorites, maintained by the Meteoritical Society.
Earth Impact Database
The reference list of ~190 confirmed terrestrial impact structures, with size and age data.
CNEOS Fireballs & Bolides
NASA/JPL's running log of atmospheric impact events — the source of the live feed above.
Lunar & Planetary Institute
Research and education on impact cratering, planetary geology and sample science.
Natural History Museum — Meteorites
Accessible explainers on meteorite types, falls and what they tell us about the solar system.
Impact events (overview)
Background on impact frequency, effects and planetary-defense context.
List of bolides
A running Wikipedia log of notable fireballs — for the ones that don't make this page's cut.

Historical entries are a curated overview for orientation — follow each link for authoritative detail. Recent fireball data: NASA/JPL CNEOS. Energies and sizes for ancient events are best estimates from the scientific literature.