(meteorobs) Fwd: Small Asteroid to Light Up Sky Over Africa

[C.L. Hall]

Cross-posting from the RASC list in Canada...

>
> -------- Original Message --------
> Subject: Small Asteroid to Light Up Sky Over Africa
> Date: Mon, 06 Oct 2008 16:05:15 -0700
> From: NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory <info at jpl.nasa.gov>
> Reply-To: <info at jpl.nasa.gov>
>
> DC Agle 818-393-9011
> Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Ca.
> agle at jpl.nasa.gov <mailto:agle at jpl.nasa.gov>
>
> Dwayne Brown 202-358-1726
> NASA Headquarters,
> Washington
>
> dwayne.c.brown at nasa.gov <mailto:dwayne.c.brown at nasa.gov>
>
> NEWS RELEASE: 2008-186
>
> Oct. 6, 2008
>
> *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 Lemmon telescope of
> the NASA-funded Catalina Sky Survey early Monday and reported to the
> Minor Planet Center for initial orbit determination. The Minor Planet
> Center alerted NASA and JPL of the impact potential. 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/
>