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A stunning fireball as bright as the full moon was seen streaking over the southern Iberian Peninsula in the early hours of Monday 6 October 2025. The spectacular celestial event was captured by the Smart project’s detectors, a network run by the Institute of Astrophysics of Andalucía (IAA-CSIC), monitoring from observatories across southern Spain including Huelva, La Hita (Toledo), Calar Alto, Sierra Nevada, La Sagra (Granada) and Seville.

 

Astrophysicist José María Madiedo, head of the Smart project and researcher at the IAA-CSIC, analysed the data and explained that the fireball was produced by a meteoroid, a rock from a comet, entering Earth’s atmosphere at a remarkable speed of approximately 127,000 kilometres per hour. The intense friction caused the surface of the meteoroid to heat up to several thousand degrees Celsius, making it incandescent and visible across the entire peninsula.

 

The fiery streak first appeared about 104 kilometres above Fuenlabrada de los Montes in Badajoz province, before travelling southeast over Ciudad Real. It extinguished at an altitude of around 29 kilometres above El Guijo in Córdoba province, having travelled some 107 kilometres through the atmosphere. Preliminary conclusions state the rock disintegrated fully during its atmospheric journey, with no fragments reaching the ground.

 

This remarkable event was witnessed thanks to the sophistication of the Smart project’s detection systems, using multiple northern and southern Spanish observatories to monitor meteoric activity across the region. The luminosity of the fireball rivalled that of a full moon, an impressive feat that made it visible to many from across the Iberian Peninsula.

 

This is the latest in a series of impressive meteoric events seen in Spain; another bright fireball was observed over Murcia in August 2025, captivating skywatchers and adding to the fascinating celestial activity documented by Spain’s team of astrophysicists.

 

These events offer a thrilling reminder of the constant activity above us and the important work done by Spain’s astrophysics community in tracking and understanding these celestial visitors.

 

 

Image: wikicommons