A skull-shaped asteroid will pass the Earth around Halloween

Passionate astronomers and lovers of all things spooky will be delighted to learn that the return of the asteroid "2015 TB145" is expected just after Halloween.

On November 7, the asteroid will be closest to the Earth, 40 million kilometers away.

According to NASA, the dead comet was first discovered in Hawaii on Oct. 31, 2015. The asteroid is nothing particularly unusual aside from its two surface craters that make it look like of a skull. That is why he was unofficially called "the Halloween asteroid".

Below is an animation generated using radar data from the Arecibo Observatory of the National Science Foundation in Puerto Rico.

Although he crossed the Earth three years ago at a distance of about 500,000 kilometers, it is not really a danger to us. It is not on the list of potentially risky asteroids of the European Space Agency. It is therefore unlikely that he collides with Earth in the next 500 years.

Because of its considerable distance from us, it can only be seen from Earth as a moving point in the sky. Sven Melchert, president of the Association of Amateur Astronomers of Germany, explained to the Welt that the skull-like appearance of the asteroid's appearance is as the result of reconstructed radar observations.

With a three-year, 17-day orbit, 2015 TB145 will probably not pass Earth until 2021, by which time it will probably be further away from our planet.