Fireball above Mediterranean Sea on July 10th 2022


fotopathOn the night of July 10th, at 02h19 UT, a bright fireball flew above Mediterranean coasts in front of Algeria coasts.

The object was registered with the SMART Project detectors operated at Calar Alto (Almería), Huelva, La Hita (Toledo), La Sagra (Granada), Sierra Nevada (Granada) and Seville observatories.

Two of the externa cameras located at Calar Alto Observatory in Almería, could also follow this event.

Following the preliminary analysis carried out by Professor José María Madiedo (Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía IAA-CSIC), and SMART project's PI, this event had a cometary origin, and was caused by a rock which impacted against our atmosphere at an estimated speed of 230.000 km/h.

The initial altitude of the luminous part of the event was 125 km above Mediterranean Sea. The object then moved northwestward and finished at an altitude of 77 km. All its trajectory, which is shown on the top left image, happened above the sea.

Below are the videos that was registered with the external cameras operated at Calar Alto Observatory in Almería.

 


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.