The Canary Islands Volcanological Institute (Involcan) reported this Thursday that the Canary Seismic Network recorded the signal of a bolide during the early hours of the morning, which was visible from several islands of the archipelago at around 02:58 hours.
The phenomenon, described by Involcan on its social networks as the "visit of a cosmic object," was due to the entry into the Earth's atmosphere of a rocky or metallic body of space origin that released a large amount of energy upon disintegration, generating a shock wave perceptible in seismic records and on the surface.
The Earth is "continuously exposed to the bombardment of objects of cosmic origin, mainly composed of rock or metal. Generally, these objects are minuscule in size, comparable to that of a grain of sand. Upon entering the atmosphere at speeds of tens of kilometers per second, they vaporize, generating the phenomenon known as shooting stars," Involcan explains.
It adds that, occasionally, larger objects, of natural or artificial origin, cross the atmosphere.
"In these cases, the energy released is considerably higher. In addition to the intense luminosity, the event can generate a shock wave strong enough to be perceived by people and cause a ground movement similar to a tremor. This phenomenon is known as a bolide," it details.
According to Involcan, the captured signal is composed of dozens of distinct shock waves, each associated with fragments of the object that separated during its entry into the atmosphere.
This process has also been confirmed by numerous videos shared on social networks, which show the fragmentation and dispersion of the "bolide."
The preliminary analysis of the seismic data indicates that the most probable location of the phenomenon is over the island of Tenerife, although the signal was detected at stations throughout almost the entire archipelago.
Involcan has recalled that these types of events are natural and relatively frequent, since the Earth is continuously exposed to the impact of objects of cosmic origin, most of them of minuscule size.
However, "bolides," due to their larger size and speed, can generate intense luminosity and, in exceptional cases, shock waves strong enough to cause material damage.
"Bolides do not normally represent any danger. However, exceptionally, their shock waves can be strong enough to burst windows and cause damage, as happened in Russia in 2013," Involcan recalls.
