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Asteroid 2015 TB145 / Arecibo Sees an Eerie Skull Passing Over Halloween Skies (+Video)
The Halloween Asteroid passed us by on the last day of October 2015. Asteroid 2015 TB145 has been dubbed as the “Halloween Asteroid” for two reasons, one of which involves its rather eerie shape.
Just when you thought Halloween couldn’t get any scarier, a giant skull-shaped asteroid flew by our Earth. The huge asteroid, officially labeled as “2015 TB145” is 600 meters in size and had a close encounter with our planet. According to NASA, the asteroid came closest to earth on October 31, perhaps to commemorate Halloween.
Scientists from the Planetary Radar Group at the Arecibo Observatory, facility of the National Science Foundation (NSF), observed near-Earth asteroid 2015 TB145 on the eve of Halloween, October 30, 2015. The NASA-funded planetary radar system measured 2015 TB145 to be about 600 meters (1,968.5 feet) in diameter, which is much larger than expected, with a rotation of approximately 5 hours and velocity of 35 km per second.
Radar images obtained at the Arecibo Observatory appear to rotate clockwise, which is noticeable by the movement of bright features. “The bright and dark features are indication of surface irregularities. For example, the central dark feature may be a large circular depression, possibly an impact crater”, commented Dr. James Richardson, USRA Scientist in the Planetary Radar Group. http://tinyurl.com/nkpjpeb
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=4760
http://lunarmeteoritehunters.blogspot.gr/
HALLOWEEN ASTEROID 2015 TB145 THAT PASSED US BY EERILY LOOKED LIKE A SKULL http://tinyurl.com/o5zqgd3
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