Asteroid to pass near the Earth on Halloween
Posted: Sat, Oct 24, 2015, 11:29 AM ET (1529 GMT)
An asteroid discovered earlier this month will pass within half a million kilometers of the Earth on Halloween, but poses on impact threat to the Earth. Astronomers discovered the asteroid, designated 2015 TB145, on October 10 at a Hawaiian observatory. The asteroid is about 400 meters in diameter and will make its closest approach to Earth on October 31 at a distance of 480,000 kilometers. The asteroid's unusual orbit, very elliptical and inclined to the ecliptic, helps explain why it was not previously discovered, and suggests the object may be a comet.
An asteroid discovered earlier this month will pass within half a million kilometers of the Earth on Halloween, but poses on impact threat to the Earth. Astronomers discovered the asteroid, designated 2015 TB145, on October 10 at a Hawaiian observatory. The asteroid is about 400 meters in diameter and will make its closest approach to Earth on October 31 at a distance of 480,000 kilometers. The asteroid's unusual orbit, very elliptical and inclined to the ecliptic, helps explain why it was not previously discovered, and suggests the object may be a comet.
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