Incoming!

If you live in the Sudan, be sure to avoid falling bolide debris today.

http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news159.html

According to the Minor Planet Center, a 2-3 meter wide asteroid will enter Earth's atmosphere today, October 7, and should put on a spectacular show for the locals of Africa's Sudan region. The asteroid, designated "2008 TC3," was discovered on October 6, and was almost immediately given a 99.8% chance of impacting with Earth.

Of course, there is very little danger posed to inhabitants of the Earth's surface as this very small asteroid has no real chance to reach terra firma as a whole, particularly given its relative small size and massive energy upon entering our atmosphere (to the order of a kiloton of TNT). The main body of "2008 TC3" will simply disintegrate.

But asteroid and meteorite collectors can rejoice! The Minor Planet Center and other researchers at the University of Arizona have predicted that very minute amounts of this asteroid may reach the surface of our planet as meteorites, allowing collectors and dealers a chance to touch and possess a piece of this object.

Yet, what I find the most interesting, however, is that this space object was entirely unknown just 24-hrs ago, and yet it will impact our planet.

So along those lines; I wonder how many other objects are out there with the prospect of touching our planet? Should we be concerned?

Or perhaps the question should be; how many times have asteroids hit our planet in modern times and we have remained unaware?