A bright fireball flew above southern coasts of Spain on August 22nd 2020

Last night, at 02:02 UT, 04:02 local time, a nice and bright fireball flew above the southern coasts of Spain, even entering into the Peninsula above Málaga province.

The object could be registered with the SMART Project's detectors operated at Calar Alto (Almería), Seville and Sierra Nevada (Granada) observatories.

This time, south and west external surveillance cameras, located at Calar Alto, also recorded the phenomena.

Following the preliminary analysis carried out by Professor José María Madiedo (Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía IAA-CSIC), the event was caused by a rock detached from an asteroid that impacted against our atmosphere at an estimated speed of about 62.000 km/h. The luminous part started at an altitude of 95 km above Mediterranean Sea. The object then moved northeastward, entering into the Peninsula at Málaga province and finishing at an altitude of 27 km above the ground.

The path this fireball followed above the sea and above Málaga, is shown on the image.

Below are the videos that could be registered with the SMART detector and the surveillance webcams operated at 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.