bright green white bolide canary islands

Bright green and white fireball lights up Canary Islands sky

Fireball streaks across the Canary Islands

A brilliant green and white bolide streaked across the sky over the Canary Islands at around 11.35pm on Friday, a phenomenon visible to the naked eye from numerous points across the archipelago that prompted several calls to the regional emergency coordination centre (CECOES 112). The object was captured by the all-sky camera of the Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC), located at the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory on La Palma, where it appears at low altitude towards the east-northeast, in the direction of the constellation Pegasus. It was also recorded by cameras belonging to the AMOS experiment, installed at both the Teide Observatory and the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory.

Scientific analysis under way

According to Dr Javier Licandro, a researcher at the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC), this dual detection will allow the object’s trajectory to be reconstructed with great precision. The AMOS system will be able to triangulate its path and, thanks to the spectra obtained during the bolide’s passage, analyse both its brightness and its composition. The phenomenon was so luminous that it could be seen from many locations across the islands. Even audience members attending the Sting concert at the Palmetum in Santa Cruz de Tenerife witnessed the flash as it crossed the sky for a few moments.

Emergency calls and initial speculation

Before these findings were known, the 112 emergency service confirmed that it had received several calls around 11.37pm from various parts of the Canary Islands. Callers described the phenomenon as a “point of light” crossing the sky, although the emergency service could not determine its nature at the time. In the early hours, various hypotheses were also circulating, suggesting a possible meteorite or even the re-entry of space debris.

What is a bolide?

However, analysis carried out by the scientific teams indicates that it was a bolide – an extremely bright meteor that occurs when a fragment of space rock enters the Earth’s atmosphere at high speed. The information recorded by the Gran Telescopio Canarias and the AMOS system will now allow for a more detailed study of the phenomenon and a more precise understanding of its physical characteristics and trajectory.

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