A fireball from a comet crosses the skies of Morocco and Spain

A fireball from a comet crossed the sky between the northern coast of Morocco and southern Andalusia on Tuesday, after entering the atmosphere at around 1.51 am at a speed of 140,000 kilometers per hour.

According to EFE, this phenomenon has been documented by the detectors of the SMART project, of the Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia (IAA-CSIC).

José María Madiedo, Spanish astrophysicist José María Madiedo who is part of the SMART project, explained that the fireball was seen in southern and central Spain. Its collision with the atmosphere at this tremendous speed made it glow, thus generating a fireball that began at an altitude of about 111 kilometers above the Mediterranean, about 70 kilometers from the Andalusian coast. 

From there, the fireball advanced in a southwest direction until it extinguished at an altitude of 69 kilometers above sea level, about 29 kilometers off the coast of Morocco. It would thus have traveled a total distance of approximately 72 kilometers.

In January, a fireball from a comet crossed the sky between the northern coast of Morocco and southern Andalusia (Spain), after entering the atmosphere around 10:10 pm at a speed of 65,000 kilometers per hour.