Archive:Earth-impact events
Near-Earth objects (NEOs) are asteroids, comets and large meteoroids whose orbits bring them close to Earth's orbit, and which may therefore pose a collision danger.
On October 7, 2008 a meteoroid called 2008 TC3 which was 2 to 5 meters (7 to 16 ft) in diameter entered Earth's atmosphere and burned up before it reached the ground. The object had just been discovered about a day before the impact. It exploded tens of kilometers above the ground with the energy of around one kiloton of TNT, causing a large fireball in the early morning sky over northern Sudan.
NEO Earth Close-Approaches
- 2008 TT26 on 2008-Oct-23 miss distance of 3.6 LD
- 2005 VN on 2008-Oct-29 miss distance of 4.1 LD
LD = Lunar Distance: 1.0 LD is about 3.84x10^5 km
See the NASA/JPL Near Earth Object Program for up-to-date information.
In the news
- Small Asteroid Predicted to Cause Brilliant Fireball over Northern Sudan - October 6, 2008
- Boulder-Size Asteroid to Be Fireball Over Earth Monday - October 6, 2008
- Impact of Asteroid 2008 TC3 Confirmed - October 7, 2008
- Incoming Asteroid Burned Up in Earth's Atmosphere Right on Time - October 8, 2008
- Little Asteroid Makes a Big Splash - October 9, 2008