This extraordinary bolide was spotted from Spain on March 16, at 2:54 local time (equivalent to 1:54 universal time). It was brighter than the full Moon. The event was generated by a rock (a meteoroid) from an asteroid that hit the atmosphere at about 61,000 km/h. The fireball overflew Portugal. It began at an altitude of about 91 km over Foros de Vale Figueira (west of the region of Évora), moved northeast, and ended at a height of around 19 km over Cano (south of region of Alentejo). The preliminary analysis of this event shows that the rock was not fully destroyed: a part of the meteoroid survived and reached the ground as a meteorite. This bright 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 Huelva, La Hita (Toledo), Calar Alto, Sierra Nevada, La Sagra (Granada), and Sevilla. The event has been analyzed by the team headed by Dr. Jose M. Madiedo (principal investigator of the SMART project), from the Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia (IAA-CSIC).

Video Rui Lourenço – APAA | 20240316 1:54:00