Massive asteroid to zip by Earth on Halloween

MASSIVE ASTEROID TO ZIP BY EARTH ON HALLOWEEN

USA Today

Mary Bowerman

Oct 21 2015


A massive asteroid will hurtle by Earth on Oct. 31, at "unusually" high speeds, according to scientists.

The asteroid, dubbed 2015 TB145, was discovered Oct. 10 by the Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System, according to a report from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

The asteroid is traveling at speed of more than 78,000 miles per hour and estimates of its size range from 689 to 2,133 feet, Earth Sky reported.

The asteroid will pass by a little over 300,000 miles from Earth, according to NASA's report. Which means it won't come anywhere close to crashing into the neighbor's Halloween party.

The asteroid's Halloween flyby will be visible by telescope, and may be at its peak "before sunrise on October 31 for observers in North America," according to the report. Though it may be hard to spot by a "small telescope."

In August, rumors swirled that an asteroid was on course to hit the Earth at the end of September. Paul Chodas, manager of NASA's Near-Earth Object office at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., said in August that the hysteria over the asteroid was misguided. 

"There is no scientific basis, not one shred of evidence, that an asteroid or any other celestial object will impact Earth on those dates," Chodas said in August. "In fact, not a single one of the known objects has any credible chance of hitting our planet over the next century.

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