Entry
The meteor entered Earth's atmosphere above northern Sudan at 02:46 UTC (05:46 local time) on October 7, 2008 with a velocity of 12.8 kilometres per second (29,000 mph) at an azimuth of 281 degrees and an altitude angle of 19 degrees to the local horizon. It exploded tens of kilometers above the ground with the energy of 0.9 to 2.1 kilotons of TNT over a remote area of the Nubian Desert causing a large fireball or bolide.
The Times reported that the meteor's "light was so intense that it lit up the sky like a full moon and an airliner 1,400 km (870 mi) away reported seeing the bright flash." A webcam captured the flash lighting up El-Gouna beach 725 kilometres north (see this webcam frame). A low-resolution image of the explosion was captured by the weather satellite Meteosat 8. The Meteosat images place the fireball at 21°00′N 32°09′E / 21.00°N 32.15°E / 21.00; 32.15 (2008 TC3 fireball). Infrasound detector arrays in Kenya also detected a sound wave from the direction of the expected impact corresponding to energy of 1.1 to 2.1 kilotons of TNT. Asteroids of this size hit Earth about two or three times a year.
The trajectory showed intersection with Earth's surface at roughly 20°18′N 33°30′E / 20.3°N 33.5°E / 20.3; 33.5 (2008 TC3 projected impact) though the object was expected to break up perhaps 100–200 kilometers (62–120 mi) west as it descended, somewhat east of the Nile River, and about 100 kilometers (62 mi) south of the Egypt–Sudan border.
According to U.S. government sources U.S. satellites detected the impact at 02:45:40 UT, with the initial detection at 20°54′N 31°24′E / 20.9°N 31.4°E / 20.9; 31.4 (2008 TC3 initial detection) at 65.4 kilometers (40.6 mi; 35.3 nmi) altitude and final explosion at 20°48′N 32°12′E / 20.8°N 32.2°E / 20.8; 32.2 (2008 TC3 final explosion) at 37 kilometers (23 mi; 20 nmi) altitude. These images have not been publicly released.
- EUMETSAT fireball images
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Meteosat 8 / EUMETSAT visual image of first light flare from 2008 TC3 with lat/long reference
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Meteosat 8 / EUMETSAT IR image of main fireball from 2008 TC3
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Meteosat images combined, showing offset from first light flare to main IR flare
Read more about this topic: 2008 TC3
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