A bright Lyrid lights up the Mediterranean Sea

During the night of April 23, we were able to enjoy a beautiful fireball associated with the Lyrids.

The event was recorded by the detectors operated by the SMART Project at the observatories of Calar Alto in Almería, Huelva, La Hita (Toledo), Sierra Nevada, La Sagra (Granada), Seville, and Mazagón (Huelva).

The southeast camera at the Calar Alto Observatory in Almería also tracked the event.

Fireball associated with the Lyrids recorded during the night of April 23.

What is a Lyrid?

The Lyrids are meteors associated with a meteor shower that occurs when the Earth passes through streams of dust and small particles left behind by a comet. As these fragments enter the Earth's atmosphere at high speed, they heat up and produce bright streaks in the sky.

Occasionally, one of these fragments is brighter than usual and produces a fireball, like the one recorded in this event. They are called Lyrids because, as seen from Earth, they appear to originate from a region of the sky near the constellation Lyra.

Preliminary analysis
Professor José María Madiedo (IAA-CSIC)

Fireball · 01:03 UT

Event type: Cometary (comet C/1861 G1 (Thatcher))
Initial velocity: 172,000 km/h
Initial altitude: 109 km
Final altitude: 72 km
Additional comments: Lyrid

Event video
Southeast camera · Calar Alto Observatory (Almería)

The Calar Alto fireball detection station (CAHA) , together with the station of the Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia (IAA-CSIC) in Sierra Nevada and others distributed across Spain, are part of the S.M.A.R.T project, led by researcher José María Madiedo.

The Calar Alto and Sierra Nevada stations operate under a collaboration agreement between Professor Madiedo and both institutions.