A huge asteroid will zoom by Earth on Halloween, but don’t panic

[Blobbenstein]

On Halloween, Earth will get an erratic visitor from deep space. A newly detected asteroid — named2015 TB145 — will pass within nearly 300,000 miles of our planet on October 31st. That's 1.3 times the distance between the Earth and the Moon. It's a pretty big asteroid too, with a diameter somewhere between 950 and 2,100 feet across — somewhere between the height of the Chrysler Building and the Shanghai Tower. As far as we know, it's the closest an object of this size will get to our planet until asteroid 1999 AN10 comes within just one lunar distance of Earth in 2027

http://www.theverge.com/2015/10/21/9582444/nasa-asteroid-tb145-halloween-earth-flyby

 

[Second Summer]

Don't panic?! They discovered a big asteroid that came out of nowhere which they think will miss Earth by a hair's breadth, and they're asking us to not panic! And even if they actually did discover an asteroid on collision course well in advance, what could they possibly do about it?

There's a big rock out there somewhere with our planet's name on it. Meanwhile, on Earth, humankind is preoccupied with more important pursuits like generating more greenhouse gases, producing more nuclear waste, and various ways of wiping out all the non-human species.

 

[Moll Flanders]

I read that the meteorite that exploded over Russia in 2013 was 20 metres wide and this one is 300 to 600 metres wide.

 

[KLS52]

Oh yay, because I don't have enough anxiety.

 

[ledboots]

Oh yay, because I don't have enough anxiety.

Don't worry, it is going to pass earth at a further distance than the moon is from us. Not really close to us, just close in comparison.

 

[KLS52]

Thank you.

 

[Blobbenstein]

This image of asteroid 2015 TB145, a dead comet, was generated using radar data collected by the National Science Foundation’s 1,000-foot (305-meter) Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico. The radar image was taken on Oct. 30, 2015, and the image resolution is 25 feet (7.5 meters) per pixel. Image via NAIC-Arecibo/NSF.

Update: 2015 TB145 likely a dead comet | Human World | EarthSky

looks a bit like a skull...eh..

 

[ledboots]

View attachment 7963

Update: 2015 TB145 likely a dead comet | Human World | EarthSky

looks a bit like a skull...eh..

So cool. Also kind of looks like an alien head--the kind from the 1950s with the big dark eyes.