Very bright alpha-Capricornid fireball over Spain
Image credit: TW
A bright fireball associated with the alpha-Capricornid meteor shower was recorded over Spain at 00:22 UTC on August 5, 2021.
The event was produced by a fragment from comet 169P/NEAT that impacted the atmosphere at about 90 000 km/h (55 900 mph), according to an analysis by the principal investigator of the SMART project, Dr. Jose M. Madiedo of the Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia (IAA-CSIC).
The fireball began over the Mediterranean Sea at a height of about 104 km (64.6 miles) and ended at an altitude of around 73 km (45.3 miles) above the province of Almería (Andalusia).
It was recorded in the framework of the SMART project, operated by the Southwestern Europe Meteor Network (SWEMN), from the meteor-observing stations located at the astronomical observatories of Calar Alto (Almería), La Hita (Toledo), La Sagra (Granada), Sierra Nevada (Granada), and Sevilla and Huelva.
Alpha Capricornid meteor shower is active from July 3 through August 15, with a peak around July 30.
Its parent object is comet 169P/NEAT
Featured image courtesy: SMART project
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