Stunning fireball over Spain on April 16 // Impresionante bola de fuego sobre España (16 de abril)

On 16 April 2021, at about 22:10 local time (equivalent to 20:10 universal time), a stunning slow fireball crossed the night sky over Spain. This bolide was generated by a rock (a meteoroid) from an asteroid that hit the atmosphere at about 61,000 km/h. The fireball began at an altitude of about 85 km over the province of Lugo (region of Galicia, northwest of Spain), crossed the whole country, and ended over the Mediterranean Sea. The meteoroid that gave rise to this Earth-grazing bolide survived and left our atmosphere following a modified orbit around the Sun. This meteor was recorded in the framework of the SMART project, operated by the Southwestern Europe Meteor Network (SWEMN) from the meteor-observing stations located at Sevilla, La Hita (Toledo), La Sagra (Granada), Calar Alto (Almería), and Madrid (Universidad Complutense). The event has been analyzed by the principal investigator of the SMART project: Dr. Jose M. Madiedo, from the Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia (IAA-CSIC). ---