Fireball over Sevilla and Huelva on June 20th 2016


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Only one minute after summer started, at 00:35 localtime of June 21st 2016 (22:35 UT of June 20th 2016), SMART Project detectors registered a fireball crossing west Andalusia’s skies, passing over Sevilla and Huelva provinces (see the path followed by this object on the left pathimage). The event was recorded from the fireball detection stations at Calar Alto, Sevilla and La Hita (Toledo) observatories. It was also captured with the west Calar Alto Observatory surveillance webcam.

The analysis carried out by the SMART Project PI José María Madiedo (University of Huelva), points that this fireball was generated due to the impact with our atmosphere of a meteoroid at a speed of about 110.000 km/h. The fireball started at an altitude of about 100 km over the town of El Real de la Jara (Sevilla), moving southwestward and having a final altitude of about 45 km over Huelva province.

Below are the videos taken from the west cameras of both Calar Alto surveillance system and the fireball detection station.

 


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 (University of Huelva) to track that kind of objects. Specifically, Calar Alto (CAHA) station and the one at Sierra Nevada (IAA-CSIC) constitute a collaboration agreement between Professor Madiedo and both institutions.