Very bright fireball over Spain produces meteorites

A very bright fireball was seen and recorded over Spain at around 01:02 UTC on February 18, 2022. The event lasted 8 seconds and was brighter than the full Moon.

It was generated by a meteoroid from an asteroid that hit the atmosphere at about 74 000 km/h (46 000 mph).

The fireball began at an altitude of around 88 km (54 miles) over the south of the province of Cáceres, moved northeast, and ended at a height of 24 km (15 miles) over the same province.

The preliminary analysis of this event shows that parts of the meteoroid survived and reached the ground as meteorites.

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 Calar Alto, Sierra Nevada, Sevilla, La Sagra (Granada), Huelva, El Aljarafe, 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).

Featured image and video courtesy: Meteoroides