An asteroid that bears a excise resemblance to a skull is set to reach Earth again next year , having last done so on Halloween in 2015 .
Called 2015 TB145 , the asteroid is about 625 to 700 meters ( 2,050 - 2,300 feet ) across , and splay once every three hours . It drop past our satellite onOctober 31 , 2015,at a distance of 486,000 kilometers ( 302,000 miles ) , having been spotted three weeks earlier . That ’s just 1.3 time the distance of the Moon .
And in November 2018 , the asteroid should pass relatively near our satellite again . This time around it ’ll be quite upstage , about 105 times further than the Moon , but close enough to study . The next time the object comes really tight will be in 2088 , when it will pass about 20 times further than the Moon .
" Although this approach shall not be so favourable , we will be able to incur new data which could help improve our knowledge of this mass and other similar pot that come close to our planet , " Pablo Santos - Sanz from the Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia ( IAA - CSIC ) said in astatement .
Santos - Sanz and his confrere published a paper in the journalAstronomy and Astrophysicsthat described some of the findings from the last whirl , using the Very Large Telescope ( VLT ) in Chile to make their finding .
They were able to discern its exact gyration period , 2.94 hours to be accurate , although they mention it could also be 4.78 hour as that would also agree their ocular information . They also limit the shape , interpret as a flatten out ellipsoid , and find oneself that it reflect only about 5 to 6 percentage of incoming sunshine .
“ This intend that it is very dark , only slightly more reflective than charcoal , " said Santos - Sanz .
It ’s thought the asteroid could be an out comet , lose its urine and other volatile compound as it orbited the Sun . That ’s somewhat standardised to the interstellar target ‘ Oumuamua , whichalso appearedto be some sort of comet disguised as an asteroid .
The next pass of this Halloween asteroid wo n’t be too spectacular . But it should be interesting all the same , with scientists hoping to learn more about its unusual characteristic .
