Fireball brighter than the Moon over southern Spain
Featured image: Bright fireball over southern Spain on January 29, 2018. Credit: Caha.es / Meteoroides.net
A fireball brighter than the Moon was recorded over southern Spain at 05:47 UTC (06:47 local time) on January 29, 2018. The event lasted up to 6 seconds before the object disintegrated in a bright flash.
The event began at an altitude of 101 km (62.7 miles) over the province of Jean, moving quickly in a northeasterly direction. It ended at a height of about 41 km (25.4 miles) over the province of Albacete.
According to the preliminary analysis performed by Prof. Jose M. Madiedo of the University of Huelva, researcher responsible for the SMART Project, object's entry speed was estimated at 180 000 km/h, causing it to become incandescent, thus generating spectacular light phenomenon.
"The rock was completely destroyed in the atmosphere, so no fragment would have fallen to the ground in the form of a meteorite," Madiedo concluded.
I'm a dedicated researcher, journalist, and editor at The Watchers. With over 20 years of experience in the media industry, I specialize in hard science news, focusing on extreme weather, seismic and volcanic activity, space weather, and astronomy, including near-Earth objects and planetary defense strategies. You can reach me at teo /at/ watchers.news.
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