Almahata Sitta
Almahata Sitta is the meteorite from asteroid 2008 TC3, which fell in Sudan in 2008 and contains many meteorite types.
Almahata Sitta is the name given to the more than 600 fragments recovered from the Nubian Desert of Sudan after the asteroid 2008 TC3 exploded overhead on 7 October 2008. The name means 'Station Six' in Arabic, after a stop on the railway between Wadi Halfa and Khartoum.
It was the first meteorite collected from an asteroid that had been observed in space before impact, so scientists could compare telescope spectra of the asteroid with the actual rocks. Most fragments are ureilites, an unusual kind of achondrite rich in carbon, including graphite and diamond. But about a fifth of the pieces are other types, including enstatite chondrites, ordinary chondrites and a carbonaceous chondrite.
This shows that 2008 TC3 was a rubble pile containing debris from several parent bodies. Almahata Sitta has become a landmark for linking asteroids to meteorites and for showing how mixed small asteroids can be.
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