Very bright fireball over central Spain
A very bright fireball streaked through the night sky over central Spain at 22:19 UTC on October 6, 2022.
The fireball – as bright as the full moon, was observed by a wide number of casual eyewitnesses, who reported it on social networks.
The event was generated by a rock (a meteoroid) from an asteroid that hit the atmosphere at about 85 000 km/h (52 800 mph).
It began at an altitude of about 90 km (56 miles) over Palomares del Campo, Cuenca Province, moved northwest, and ended at a height of around 26 km (16 miles) over Huete, Cuenca.
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 Huelva, La Hita, Sierra Nevada, La Sagra, Sevilla, and Faro de Cullera.
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 credit: Meteoroides
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