Fireball on August 8th 2019 in front of Almeria coast

At 02:08 UT (04:08 Local time) of August 8th 2019, a bright fireball could be observed in front of the coast of Almeria. This event was registerd from the SMART Project's detectors operated at Calar Alto (Almería), Sierra Nevada (Granada) and Sevilla observatories.

Following the preliminary analysis carried out by Professor José María Madiedo (University of Huelva), PI of the SMART Project, this fireball was caused by a rock impacting against the Earth atmosphere at a estimated speed of about 72.000 km/h.

The initial altitude of the fireball was about 91 km above the Mediterranean Sea, just in front of Almeria's coast (South Spain). The object moved then northeastward and finished at an altitude of about 35 km above the sea level. The trajectory this object followed above the sea is shown on the right picture.

Below are the videos registered with both the SMART Project's detector and the surveillance system webcams placed 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.