Scientists Discovered the Part of an Asteroid that Survives the Earth’s Ground

A new study published online in Meteoritics and Planetary Science reveals the part of an asteroid that survived the ground as meteorites. It was a mystery to the scientists as to why it happened. Fortunately, the 6-meter-wide asteroid 2008 TC3 guided the researchers as they attempted to solve the puzzle.

What Is Asteroid 2008 TC3 Space Rock?

Asteroid 2008 TC3 landed in North Sudan in 2008. It was tracked by Peter Jenniskens of the SETI Institute and NASA Ames Research Center in 2009.

NASA described the event as exceptional since the asteroid was spotted the day before it struck the Earth, and the impact site and time were foreseen for the first time.

When the asteroid hit the Earth's atmosphere, it formed a spectacular meteor that disintegrated above Sudan's Nubian Desert. The disintegration spread a meteorite shower over an area of 7 x 30 kilometers.

According to Jenniskens, the main author of the study and a meteor astronomer, the bulk of meteorites fell from rocks the size of grapefruits to small vehicles. For the brief meteor phase, rocks that are too big to spin swiftly enough to disperse the heat.

Asteroid 2008 TC3 Research Study

In order to recover the meteorites, Jenniskens worked with Muawia Shaddad, a professor at the University of Khartoum, and his students. The students found nearly 600 meteorites in a series of focused search missions, some as big as a fist, but most no bigger than a thumbnail. The students recorded the "find" location for each meteorite.

When conducting grid searches perpendicular to the asteroid trajectory, the researchers were shocked to discover that the larger fist-sized meteorites were dispersed more than the smaller meteorites. The researchers collaborated with NASA's Asteroid Threat Assessment Project (ATAP) at NASA Ames Research Center.

(Photo : Dumitru Stoica/Pixabay)
Meteor Milky Way Sky

According to theoretical astronomer Darrel Robertson of ATAP, the asteroid's brightness flashed as it approached Earth due to its spinning and tossing. As a result, asteroid 2008 TC3 is unique in that we are aware of the asteroid's form and orientation at the time of entry into the Earth's atmosphere.

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Asteroid 2008 TC3 Hydrodynamic Model and Research Findings

In order to show how the asteroid melts and fragments upon hitting the Earth's atmosphere, Robertson created a hydrodynamic model of 2008 TC3. The observed altitudes of meteor brightness and dust clouds were used to calibrate the altitude of events recognized in the model.

According to Robertson, they found that the asteroid punched a near vacuum wake in the atmosphere due to the rapid speed of its entry. The initial fragments came from the sides of the asteroid and tended to go toward the wake. They merged there and fell to the ground at a slow relative speed.

The smaller meteorites were quickly stopped by friction with the atmosphere as they fell close to the breakup point. On the other hand, larger meteorites were more challenging to stop and fell further downrange. Because of this, most retrieved meteorites were discovered in a brief, 1-km-wide area of the asteroid's course.