Fireball over southern Spain on the night of November 14th

Last night of November 14th, a fireball streaked across the skies of southern Spain at 19h02 UT.

Detectors from the SMART Project, operated from the Calar Alto (Almería), Mazagón (Huelva), and Seville observatories, recorded the passage of this object through our atmosphere.

Three of the external cameras at the Calar Alto Observatory in Almería were also able to record this object, despite the clouds covering much of the Iberian Peninsula.

According to the preliminary analysis carried out by Professor José María Madiedo (Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia IAA-CSIC), PI of the SMART Project, the event had an asteroid origin.

The object's initial speed was 80,000 km/h, with the luminous portion of the event beginning at an altitude of 80 km over the province of Granada. The fireball then moved southeast, ending its trajectory over the same province, northwest of the city of Motril, at an altitude of 48 km above ground level.

This trajectory can be seen in the image on the right.

Below are the three videos recorded by external cameras operated from the 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.