Fireball as bright as the full Moon spotted over southern Spain
Image credit: SMART Project
A fireball as bright as the full Moon was recorded streaking through the night sky over southern Span at 04:08 UTC on January 2, 2021.
This bolide was generated by a rock from a comet that hit the atmosphere at about 230 000 km/h.
The fireball began at an altitude of about 113 km (70 miles) over Andalusia and ended at a height of around 58 km (36 miles).
This bright meteor was recorded in the framework of the SMART project, operated by the Southwestern Europe Meteor Network (SWEMN) from the meteor-observing stations located at Sevilla, La Sagra (Granada), and La Hita (Toledo).
The event has been analyzed by the principal investigator of the SMART project, Dr. Jose M. Madiedo, from the Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia (IAA-CSIC).
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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