Cristina Hodgson
A DAZZLING fireball has streaked across the sky of southern Spain.
The bolide, which spotted over Spain on May 28, at 3:19 am local time (equivalent to 1:19 universal time) was observed by several witnesses who reported the phenomenon on social networks.
According to astrophysicist Jose María Madiedo, from the Andalucian Astrophysics Institute (IAA-CSIC), it entered the atmosphere at a speed of 56,000 kilometres an hour, and had come from a comet.
The sudden friction as it met the Earth’s atmosphere at this enormous speed made the meteoroid seem incandescent, creating a ball of fire.
It began at an altitude of 93 kilometres, over the province of Jaen, moved southeast, and ended at a height of around 59 km over the province of Almeria.
Its presence was picked up by the SMART project detectors from monitoring stations in Calar Alto, the Sierra Nevada, Seville, La Sagra (Granada), Huelva, El Aljarafe and La Hita (Toledo).
The event has been analysed by the principal investigator of the SMART project: Dr. Jose M. Madiedo, from the Institute of Astrophysics of Andalucia (IAA-CSIC).
READ MORE:
- WATCH: Spectacular fireball ‘as bright as a full moon’ streak across Andalucian skies
- WATCH: SpaceX satellite disintegrates over Spain in spectacular fireball
- WATCH: Spectacular fireball streak across Spain’s Andalucia on Valentine’s Day
