Fireball on July 2nd above Cuenca province (South Spain)


pathAt 21h49 of July 2nd  2021, a fireball flew above Cuenca (South Spain) skies.

SMART Project’s detector operated at Calar Alto (Almería), La Sagra (Granada), Sierra Nevada (Granada), La Hita (Toledo), Madrid, Cerro Negro (Seville) and Seville observatories registered the event.

External surveillance cameras operated at Calar Alto Observatory (Almería) also recorded this object.

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 cometary origin, and was caused by a rock which impacted against our atmosphere at an estimated speed of 72.000 km/h.

The luminous part of the phenomena started at an altitude of 91 km. Then the object moved northwestward and finished at an altitude of 41 km above the province of Cuenca.

The above image shows the path this fireball followed above the Cuenca.

Below are the videos that could be registered with the two external surveillance 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.