Fireball Passes by Mount Fuji Stratovolcano in Japan | Earth Science

Fireball Passes by Mount Fuji Stratovolcano in Japan | Earth Science

Photographer "Daichi Fujii": "This is a photograph of the fireball that occurred at 9:05:27pm on February 1, 2026, taken from Mt. Fuji. I got a hole-in-one at the Hoei crater. Recently, every month, a bright fireball has been captured seemingly overlapping with Mt. Fuji."

In astronomy, fireballs, also known as bolides, are exceptionally bright meteors that, like all meteors, heat up when they enter Earth's atmosphere at high velocities and leave a trail of glowing material in the sky. Meteors are classified as fireballs when they shine brighter than the planets—an apparent magnitude of –4 or brighter. 

A fireball is a very bright meteor—one at least as bright as Venus and possibly brighter than even a full Moon. Fireballs are rare—if you see one you are likely to remember it for your whole life. Physically, a fireball is a small rock that originated from an asteroid or comet that typically leaves a fading smoke trail of gas and dust as it shoots through the Earth's atmosphere. It is unlikely that any single large ground strike occurred—much of the rock likely vaporized as it broke up into many small pieces.

Learn more about Fireballs:
https://cneos.jpl.nasa.gov/fireballs/

Mount Fuji is an active stratovolcano located on the Japanese island of Honshu with a summit elevation of 3,776.24 m (12,389 ft 3 in). It is the tallest mountain in Japan, the second-highest volcano located on an island in Asia and seventh-highest peak of an island on Earth. The mountain is located about 100 km (62 mi) southwest of Tokyo and is visible from the Japanese capital on clear days. Mount Fuji's exceptionally symmetrical cone, usually covered in snow for about five months of the year, is commonly used as a cultural icon of Japan and is frequently depicted in art and photography, as well as visited by sightseers, hikers and mountain climbers. Mount Fuji last erupted between 1707 and 1708.

Source: Daichi Fujii (@dfuji1 on X)

Duration: 3 seconds
Date: Feb 1, 2026

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