Imagine a sudden flash across the night sky, a bright streak moving incredibly fast. That’s exactly what watchers saw over southern Spain recently. The Calar Alto Observatory in Almería, working with other stations from the SMART project, picked up several of these brilliant fireballs. They appeared during the nights of July 30 and August 1. Scientists connect these events to the yearly Alpha-Capricornids and Perseids meteor showers.
On the night of July 30, observers saw two Alpha-Capricornids and one Perseid. The first fireball appeared at 00:33 hours over Jaén province. It sped across the sky at an astonishing 89,000 kilometers per hour. The second Alpha-Capricornid showed up at 04:16 hours over Ciudad Real, moving at 88,000 kilometers per hour. A Perseid was then spotted at 03:31 hours over Córdoba province. This one was a real speed demon, rocketing at 220,000 kilometers per hour, according to details from the Almería Observatory. The show wasn’t over. On August 1, at 22:12 hours, another Alpha-Capricornid lit up the sky over Murcia province. Its speed was a brisk 90,000 kilometers per hour.
These dramatic cosmic events were caught by detectors belonging to the SMART project. These special instruments help researchers study how these luminous objects interact with Earth’s atmosphere. Professor José María Madiedo, who leads the SMART Project and is a member of the Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia (IAA-CSIC), performed the initial analysis. His findings trace the Alpha-Capricornids back to a body named 169P/NEAT. The Perseid fireball, on the other hand, came from Comet Swift-Tuttle.
What Do Cometary Bodies Generate?
Let’s talk about Comet Swift-Tuttle, the source of the Perseids. This is a massive, icy comet. Every summer, it allows us to see the Perseids meteor shower. This happens because our planet Earth passes through the cloud of dusty debris that Swift-Tuttle leaves behind as it orbits the Sun. This comet has a nucleus that is 26 kilometers across. That’s almost three times bigger than the asteroid believed to have wiped out the dinosaurs. Plus, it moves four times faster than that ancient space rock. Because of its size and speed, the Observatory currently considers Swift-Tuttle the most dangerous object known to humanity.
Then there’s the body 169P/NEAT, responsible for the Alpha-Capricornids. This object measures 3 kilometers in diameter. It makes a complete trip around the Sun every 4.2 years. Scientists have studied its history. They believe that between 3,500 and 5,000 years ago, half of this comet broke apart as it got too close to the Sun. This dramatic event left a huge amount of dust and gas scattered in space. Today, it’s that very trail of cosmic leftovers that creates the Alpha-Capricornids meteor shower we see.