English (UK)
Three phenomena as beautiful as interesting could be observed from Calar Alto Observatory in Almería during the nights of September 10th and 11th. First of them, September 10th, at 00h29 UT, was a nice fireball that could be registered from the SMART Project's detectors operated at Calar Alto (Almería), Huelva, La Hita (Toledo), Sierra Nevada (Granada), La Sagra (Granada), Seville, Otura (Granada) and Mazagón (Huelva) observatories.
The second, also on September 10th, turned out to be a phenomenon that is difficult to observe and specially to study, as it happens in a very short lapse. It was a sprite caused by a large storm that occurred that night in the vicinity of Calar Alto Observatory.
Finally a really impressive super-fireball on September 11th, iluminated the night at Calar Alto Observatory. This event was also registered with the SMART Project's detectors operated at Calar Alto (Almería), Huelva, La Hita (Toledo), Sierra Nevada (Granada), La Sagra (Granada), Seville, Sant Celoni (Barcelona) and Mazagón (Huelva) observatories.
All of them were also registered with the external cameras of Calar Alto Observatory in Almería.
Regarding the fireball on September 10th, preliminary analysis by Professor José María Madiedo (IAA-CSIC) suggests a cometary origin. The rock from a comet entered our atmosphere at an estimated speed of 128.000 km/h. The initial altitude of the luminous portion of the event was approximately 98 km above Ciudad Real province, and it traveled northwestward, ending at an altitude of 38 km above the same province.
The impressive super-fireball observed on the night of September 11th, and following the preliminary analysis also carried out by Professor José María Madiedo (IAA-CSIC), results on a rock detached from a comet that entered in our atmosphera at an estimated speed of 238.000 km/h. It happened to to the north-west of the Balearic Islands, over the Mediterranean Sea. The initial altitude of the luminous part of the 
event was of 165 km above the sea. The object then moved east and finished at an altitude of 74 km above the Mediterranean Sea.
On the other hand, during the night of September 10th, a powerful storm front developed near Calar Alto Observatory (Almería), which gave rise to the appearance of this sprite , as beautiful as difficult to study, as they last only between 3 and 10 ms.
The frame extracted from the video of the red sprite is shown on the left picture.
Videos of all of these events, the firewalls and the sprite, are shown below. All of them are registered with external cameras of Calar Alto Observatory in Almería.
- Fireball at 00h29 of September 10th
- Fireball at 01h46 of September 11th
- Sprite from the big thunderstorm on September 10th
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.