Bright fireball over the center part of Spain on November 15th 2017

At 4:52 local time (3:52 UT) of November 15th 2017, a bright fireball flew over the center part of Spain. This object could be registered from the Calar Alto SMART detectors and with the north surveillance webcam. Also SMART detectors operated at La Hita (Toledo), La Sagra (Granada), Huelva and Sevilla registerd this event.

Following the preliminary analysis carried out by Professor José María Madiedo (University of Huelva), and the PI of the SMART Project, this object was a Leonid, produced as consequence of a fragment detached from Comet Tempel-Tuttel that entered into our atmosphere at a speed of about 260.000 km/h. The luminous phenomena started at an altitude of about 146 km above the southeast of Cuenca province (center of Spain). The fireball moved northwestward, finishing at an altitude of about 78 km.

The path over the ground can be seen on the left image.

Below are the videos registered by both the north SMART detector and the north surveillance webcam, both located at Calar Alto Observatory

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.