English (UK)
At 21h18 UT of August 17th 2022, a fireball with an asteroidal origin flew above south Mediterranean Sea, in front of both Morocco and Spain coasts.
This object was registered with the Smart Project detectors operated at Calar Alto (Almería), La Hita (Toledo), Huelva, Sierra Nevada (Granada), La Sagra (Granada), Seville and Aljarafe (Seville) observatories.
Two of the external cameras located at Calar Alto Observatory also recorded the 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 an asteroidal origin, and was caused by a rock which impacted against our atmosphere at an estimated speed of 55.000 km/h.
The luminous part of the phenomena started at an altitude of 83 km above south Mediterranean Sea. Then the object moved northeastward and finished at an altitude of 23 km above the sea.
The above image shows the path this fireball followed between Morocco and Spain coasts above Mediterranean Sea
Below are the videos that could be registered with the two of the external cameras operated at Calar Alto Observatory in Almería (South Spain).
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.
