Fireball above the west most part of the Mediterranean Sea

During the early morning of April 14th 2019, at 3:00 local time (1:00 UT) a fireball flew above the west most part of the Mediterranean Sea, near the Strait of Gibraltar.

The event could be registered with the South Calar Alto Observatory surveillance webcam and with the SMART Project detectors operated at La Sagra (Granada), La Hita (Toledo), Sevilla and Huelva Observatories.

Following the preliminary analysis carried out by Professor José María Madiedo (University of Huelva), PI of the SMART Project, this fireball was caused by the impact against our atmosphere of a rock detached from an asteroid which had an estimated speed of about 40.000 km/h. The initial altitude of the luminous event was of 85 km, finishing at an altitude of about 31 km above the Mediterranean Sean.

The trajectory this object followed above the sea is shown on the left picture

Below is the video that could be registered with the Calar Alto Observatory (Almería) South Surveillance System Webcam.

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.