English (UK)
On April 23rd 2018, at 02:38 UT (04:38 local time) a bright fireball could be observed at the east part of Andalucía (South Spain) in front Almería's coasts. This event could only be registered with the SMART Project's detectors operated at Calar Alto (Almería) and La Sagra (Granada) observatories, as well as with the webcams of the external surveillance system at Calar Alto, mainly due to the haze that most of Andalucía's skies had at that time.
Following the preliminary analysis carried out by Professor José María Madiedo (University of Huelva), PI of SMART Project, this event was caused by a rock with asteroidal origin that entered into our atmosphere at a speed of about 101.000 km/h. This fireball took place in front of Almería's east coasts, and started at an altitude of about 80 km. The object then moved northeastward and finished over the Mediterraean Sea at an altitude of about 43 km.
The right image shows the path the fireball followed above the sea.
Below are shown the videos that could be registered with the SMART detector located at Calar Alto Observatory (Almería) and the ones recorded with two of the Calar Alto Observatory surveillance webcams.
Calar Alto (CAHA) fireball detection station, together with the one at the Observatory of Sierra Nevada (IAA-CSIC) and others placed at different locations in Spain, are part of the S.M.A.R.T. project led by Professor José María Madiedo (University of Huelva) to track that kind of objects. Specifically, Calar Alto (CAHA) station and the one at Sierra Nevada (IAA-CSIC) constitute a collaboration agreement between Professor Madiedo and both institutions.
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