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The recovery of asteroid 2008 TC 3
Author(s) -
SHADDAD Muawia H.,
JENNISKENS Peter,
NUMAN Diyaa,
KUDODA Ayman M.,
ELSIR Saadia,
RIYAD Ihab F.,
ALI Awad Elkareem,
ALAMEEN Mohammed,
ALAMEEN Nada M.,
EID Omer,
OSMAN Ahmed T.,
AbuBAKER Mohamed I.,
YOUSIF Mohamed,
CHESLEY Steven R.,
CHODAS Paul W.,
ALBERS Jim,
EDWARDS Wayne N.,
BROWN Peter G.,
KUIPER Jacob,
FRIEDRICH Jon M.
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
meteoritics and planetary science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.09
H-Index - 100
eISSN - 1945-5100
pISSN - 1086-9379
DOI - 10.1111/j.1945-5100.2010.01116.x
Subject(s) - meteorite , asteroid , enstatite , geology , achondrite , chondrite , astrobiology , parent body , geochemistry , mineralogy , physics
– On October 7, 2008, asteroid 2008 TC 3 impacted Earth and fragmented at 37 km altitude above the Nubian Desert in northern Sudan. The area surrounding the asteroid’s approach path was searched, resulting in the first recovery of meteorites from an asteroid observed in space. This was also the first recovery of remains from a fragile “cometary” PE = IIIa/b type fireball. In subsequent searches, over 600 mostly small 0.2–379 g meteorites (named “Almahata Sitta”) with a total mass 10.7 kg were recovered from a 30 × 7 km area. Meteorites fell along the track at 1.3 kg km −1 , nearly independent of mass between 1 and 400 g, with a total fallen mass of 39 ± 6 kg. The strewn field was shifted nearly 1.8 km south from the calculated approach path. The influence of winds on the distribution of the meteorites, and on the motion of the dust train, is investigated. The majority of meteorites are ureilites with densities around 2.8 g cm −3 , some of an anomalous (porous, high in carbon) polymict ureilite variety with densities as low as 1.5 g cm −3 . In addition, an estimated 20–30% (in mass) of recovered meteorites were ordinary, enstatite, and carbonaceous chondrites. Their fresh look and matching distribution of fragments in the strewn field imply that they were part of 2008 TC 3 . For that reason, they are all referred to as “Almahata Sitta.” No ureilite meteorites were found that still held foreign clasts, suggesting that the asteroid’s clasts were only loosely bound.