The “SMART” project of Morocco’s Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia (IAA-CSIC) in Spain recorded a huge ball of fire flying over Morocco at a speed of 37,000 mph (about 59,545 kilometers per hour), reported “Breaking Latest News” website on Monday.
The project detected the fireball at 3:56 a.m. on Sunday which looked brighter than the full moon, according to astrophysicist José María Madiedo, a researcher at the IAA-CSIC and director of the SMART project. Numerous people in Spain observed the phenomenon and shared it on social media.
Madiedo’s calculations indicated that the rock that caused this astral event came from an asteroid and entered Earth’s atmosphere at a speed of approximately 37,000 mph. The friction with the atmosphere at this speed heated the surface of the rock thousands of degrees, causing it to burst into flame and creating the fireball.
It started its descent at a speed of about 60,000 mph above the Moroccan town of Ibouhjarene and then fizzled out at about 19,000 mph over the town of Beni Oukil.
Several explosions occurred as the rock ruptured, resulting in rapid flares of light.
The SMART project is part of the Southwest Europe Fireball and Meteor Network (SWEMN), whose goal is to observe the sky to record and research the impact of rocks from diverse Solar System objects on Earth’s atmosphere.