Bright Meteor Streaks Across Morocco at 60,000 km/h, Observed by Spanish Astronomers

The passage of this meteor in the Moroccan sky was reported in Spain by the detectors of the SMART project of the Andalusian Institute of Astrophysics (IAA-CSIC), installed in Huelva, Seville, Sierra Nevada, La Sagra (near Granada) Calar Alto (near Almeria) and La Hita (near Toledo). According to Professor José María Madiedo of the IAA-CSIC, and principal researcher of the SMART project, the fireball was observed in the Moroccan sky on Sunday at 3:56 am.

The brightness of this fireball "exceeded that of the full moon," says the astrophysicist. "The rock that originated this phenomenon came from an asteroid and entered the Earth’s atmosphere at a speed of about 60,000 km/h. The violent impact with the atmosphere, at this lightning speed, caused the surface of the rock to heat up to thousands of degrees Celsius, transforming it into an incandescent body," he explains. The fireball continued its course towards the southeast at a speed of about 30,600 km/h.