Very bright fireball observed over Spain, meteorites expected
A very bright fireball was observed over the skies of Spain outshining the Moon in the night sky on Thursday, January 9, 2025. The preliminary analysis of this event shows a small part of the meteoroid survived and reached the ground as a meteorite.
A bright fireball was observed streaking across the skies of Spain at approximately 22:08 LT (21:08 UTC) on Thursday, January 9. It burned up over the southeastern region of León.
The event was visible across the Iberian Peninsula and marked the first recorded bolide event in Spain for 2025, according to José María Madiedo, an astrophysicist at the Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (IAA-CSIC).
The fireball was first sighted approximately 86 km (53 miles) above Palencia, traveling at about 67 000 km/h (41 630 mph). It was then observed across regions as far as 600 km (373 miles) away.
Madiedo, who analyzed the event, reported that the fireball’s atmospheric flight spanned a total of 67 km (42 miles) before burning out at an altitude of 23 km (14 miles) above the village of Joara, in the Sahagún municipality of León.
The preliminary analysis of this event shows that the rock was not fully destroyed and a small part of the meteoroid survived and reached the ground as a meteorite.
The fireball was recorded as part of the SMART project, operated by the Southwestern Europe Meteor Network (SWEMN). Observations were made from meteor-observing stations in La Hita (Toledo), Calar Alto, Sierra Nevada, La Sagra (Granada), Olocau (Valencia), and Marçà (Tarragona).
The superbolide was also detected by 10 stations of the Spanish Fireball and Meteorite Recovery Network (SPMN) led by the Institute of Space Sciences (IEC-CSIC/IEEC) which reconstructed the trajectory and orbit of the meteoroid.
“The degree of deepening also points to meteorite survival,” said CSIC Research Scientist, Prof. Dr. Josep M. Trigo-Rodríguez.
References:
1 A meteor brighter than the full Moon crosses the sky of Palencia and is visible throughout Spain – COPE – January 10, 2024
Featured image: Fireball observed over Spain on January 9, 2025. Credit: Jose Maria Madiedo
I am an Assistant Editor and Severe Weather & Science Journalist at The Watchers, specializing in real-time severe weather coverage, geophysical event reporting, and research-driven scientific analysis. You can reach me at rishav(at)watchers(.)news.
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