Very bright fireball over the Mediterranean Sea on July 23
Another bright fireball was recorded streaking across the night sky over the Mediterranean Sea on July 23, 2018, just 5 days after a long-lasting fireball over the same region. It was recorded by the meteor observing stations operating in the framework of the SMART Project from the astronomical observatories of Calar Alto, La Sagra (Granada), Sierra Nevada (Granada) and Sevilla.
Fireball event on July 23 took place at 20:22 UTC (22:22 local time) and lasted up to 4 seconds.
According to the preliminary analysis by the SMART Project's Principal Investigator, Professor Jose Maria Madiedo of the University of Huelva, Spain, the event was produced by a fragment from an asteroid that hit the atmosphere at about 61 000 km/h.
The fireball began at an altitude of around 89 km (55 miles) over the sea and ended at a height of about 37 km (23 miles).
A long-lasting fireball was recorded over the same region at 02:20 UTC on July 17, 2018. That event lasted up to 12 seconds before the object disintegrated
Spectrum emission lines of a fireball over the Mediterranean Sea on July 17, 2018. Credit: Centro Astronómico Hispano-Alemán
The July 17th fireball flew over the Mediterranean Sea, not far away from the coast of Almeria in southern Spain.
It started at about 91 km (56 miles) above sea level, moved southeastward and ended in front of the Cabo de Gata at an altitude of about 31 km (19 miles).
Featured image credit: Meteoroides.net
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