Bright fireball near the Balearic Islands


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At 01:00 UTC on February 11, 2024, a bright fireball could be seen near the sky of the Balearic Islands, of which we have finally achieved its triangulation.

This object was recorded in the SMART Project detectors operated in Calar Alto (Almería), Huelva, La Hita (Toledo), Sierra Nevada, La Sagra (Granada), Ayora (Valencia) and Seville.

On this occasion, one of the external surveillance web cameras operating at the Calar Alto Observatory in Almería was able to record this beautiful event.

 

The preliminary analysis of this event was carried out by Professor José María Madiedo (Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia IAA-CSIC). His conclusions are the following:

Type of event: asteroidal.
Initial speed: 66,000 km/h.
Initial height: 92 km.
Final height: 38 km.

Below is the video from one of the exterior cameras of the Calar Alto Observatory. 


Calar Alto (CAHA) fireball detection station, together with the one at the Observatory of Sierra Nevada (IAA-CSIC) and others placed at different locations in Spain, are part of the S.M.A.R.T. project led by Professor José María Madiedo (IAA) to track that kind of objects. Specifically, Calar Alto (CAHA) station and the one at Sierra Nevada (IAA-CSIC) constitute a collaboration agreement between the IAA researcher José María Madiedo and both institutions.