Last fireball of 2021 spring

The last fireball of 2021 spring detected from Calar Alto Observatory took place on June 20th at 22h47 UT and it happened above Valencia (East Spain) skies.

This object was registered with the SMART Project's detectors operated at Calar Alto (Almería), Sierra Nevada (Granada), La Sagra (Granada) , La Hita (Toledo) and Seville observatories.

North surveillance camera operated at Calar Alto Observatory could also record this phenomenon.

Following the preliminary analysis carried out by Professor José María Madiedo (Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía IAA-CSIC), and SMART project's PI, this event was caused by a rock detached from a comet which impacted against our atmosphere at an estimated speed of 130.000 km/h.

The luminous part of the phenomena started at an altitude of 83 km. Then the object moved northwestward and finished at an altitude of 60 km above the ground.

The top left image shows the path this fireball followed above the Valencia (East Spain).

Below is the video registered with the north external surveillance camera operated at Calar Alto Observatory in Almería (South Spain).

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 (IAA) to track that kind of objects. Specifically, Calar Alto (CAHA) station and the one at Sierra Nevada (IAA-CSIC) constitute a collaboration agreement between the IAA researcher José María Madiedo and both institutions.