[meteorite-list] Small Asteroid to Light Up Sky Over Africa (2008 TC3)

[Ron Baalke]

Oct. 06, 2008

Dwayne Brown 
Headquarters, Washington                               
202-358-1726 
dwayne.c.brown at nasa.gov 

Veronica McGregor 
Jet Propulsion Laboratory 
818-354-9452 
veronica.c.mcgregor at jpl.nasa.gov   
RELEASE: 08-254

SMALL ASTEROID TO LIGHT UP SKY OVER AFRICA

WASHINGTON -- An asteroid measuring several feet in diameter is 
expected to enter the atmosphere over northern Sudan before dawn 
Tuesday, setting off a potentially brilliant natural fireworks 
display. 

It is unlikely any sizable fragments will survive the fiery passage 
through Earth's atmosphere. The event is expected to occur at 5:46 
a.m. local time (10:46 p.m. EDT Monday). 

"We estimate objects this size enter Earth's atmosphere once every few 
months," said Don Yeomans of the Near-Earth Object Office at NASA's 
Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. "The unique aspect of 
this event is that it is the first time we have observed an impacting 
object during its final approach." 

The small space rock, designated 2008 TC3, will be traveling on an 
eastward trajectory that will carry it toward the Red Sea. 

"Observers in the region could be in for quite a show," Yeomans said. 
"When the object enters the atmosphere, it could become an extremely 
bright fireball." 

The small space rock first was observed by the Mount Lemon telescope 
of the NASA-funded Catalina Sky Survey early Monday. NASA detects and 
tracks asteroids and comets passing close to Earth. The Near Earth 
Object Observation Program, commonly called "Spaceguard," plots the 
orbits of these objects to determine if any could be potentially 
hazardous to our planet. 

For more information, visit: 

http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/ 

	
-end-