Asteroid 2008 TC3 is many different meteorites

William Atkins
Friday, 17 December 2010 07:39

Science - Space

Scientists found that  Asteroid 2008 TC3 is really composed of many different types of meteorites, containing a diverse amount of materials. NASA states they contain chemicals that form the building blocks of life here on Earth.

In space, 2008 TC₃ was an asteroid that was about 7 to 16 feet (2 to 5 meters) in diameter.

However, it got a little bit too close to Earth and, while traveling about 29,000 miles per hour (12.8 kilometers per second), collided with the planet's atmosphere about 23 miles (37 kilometers) above the Nubian Desert in Sudan, on the African Continent.

Before it collided, 2008 TC₃ became the first celestial body to be observed and tracked in outer space before hitting Earth.

Richard A. Kowalski, using the Catalina Sky Survey (CSS) 1.5-meter telescope at Mount Lemmon, discovered 2008 TC₃ on October 6, 2008, about 20 hours before the collision with Earth.

The NASA article 'NASA Discovers Asteroid Delivered Assortment of Meteorites' states, 'Before landing on Earth, the 13-foot asteroid was detected by a telescope from the NASA-sponsored Catalina Sky Survey based at the University of Arizona in Tucson.'

It added, 'Hours prior to its demise, astronomers and scientists around the world tracked and scanned the asteroid. It was the first time a celestial object was observed prior to entering Earth's atmosphere.'

The explosion high above Earth's surface occurred on October 7, 2008, at approximately 02:46 UTC (5:46 local time).

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