2008 TC₃

2008 TC₃
	Estimated path and altitude of the meteor in red, with the possible location for the METEOSAT IR fireball (bolide) as orange crosshairs and the infrasound detection of the explosion in green.
Discovery
Discovered by	Catalina Sky Survey
Discovery date	October 6, 2008, 06:39 UTC
Designations
Alternative designations	8TA9D69 (Catalina Sky Survey)
Minor planet category	NEO; Apollo;
Orbital characteristics
	Epoch October 7, 2008 (JD 2454746.5)
	Uncertainty parameter 4
Observation arc	1 day (575 observations)
Aphelion	1.71644 AU (256.776 Gm)
Perihelion	0.899957 AU (134.6317 Gm)
Semi-major axis	1.308201 AU (195.7041 Gm)
Eccentricity	0.312065
Orbital period (sidereal)	1.50 yr (546.53 d)
Mean anomaly	330.7541°
Mean motion	0.6587071°/day
Inclination	2.54220°
Longitude of ascending node	194.101138°
Time of perihelion	2008-Nov-20
Argument of perihelion	234.44897°
Jupiter MOID	3.57975 AU (535.523 Gm)
Physical characteristics
Dimensions	4.1 metres (13.5 ft)
Mass	80,000 kilograms (180,000 lb)
Mean density	~1.5 g/cm3
Synodic rotation period	0.0269409 h (1.61645 min)
Geometric albedo	0.1±0.03
Spectral type	F/M
Absolute magnitude (H)	30.4

2008 TC₃ was an 80-tonne (80-long-ton; 90-short-ton), 4.1-meter (13 ft) diameter asteroid that entered Earth's atmosphere on October 7, 2008. It exploded at an estimated 37 kilometers (23 mi) above the Nubian Desert in Sudan. Some 600 meteorites, weighing a total of 10.5 kilograms (23.1 lb), were recovered; many of these belonged to a rare type known as ureilites, which contain, among other minerals, nanodiamonds.

It was the first time that an asteroid impact had been predicted before its entry into the atmosphere as a meteor.