A strange asteroid in the shape of a skull will zoom in on Earth just after Halloween

Artist impression of the asteroid which, under certain light conditions, looks like a human skull.

(José Antonio Peñas / SINC)

An asteroid that, in certain light conditions, looks like a human skull, will fly over the Earth just after Halloween.

The official title of the space rock is the Asteroid 2015 TB145 and it is a so-called "dead comet" which has lost most of its ice and its gases. Designed for its macabre appearance, the asteroid first flew over the Earth on Halloween 2015, prompting NASA to call it "the big pumpkin".

In 2015, the asteroid flew over the Earth at only 300,000 miles, according to Space.com. For comparison, the average distance between the Earth and the Moon is 238,855 miles.

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First discovered on October 10, 2015 by the University of Hawaii's pan-STARRS-1 (pan response and rapid response response system), the asteroid "Halloween" should take a fresh look at November, according to the researchers. However, this time it will not be as close to our planet.

The 2015 TB145 asteroid will zoom out to 105 times the average lunar distance, reports SINC, citing a study released last year.

The diameter of the rock is between 2050 and 2297 feet, according to scientists.

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Last year, an asteroid the size of a skyscraper named (441987) 2010 NY65 flew over the Earth at about eight times the distance between the Earth and the Moon. Also in 2017, the Florence asteroid, a huge rock 2.7 kilometers long, has passed through the Earth at 18 lunar distances.

In 2016, NASA opened a new office to track asteroids and comets too close to the Earth. The Planetary Defense Coordination Office (PDCO) formalizes the existing program of the Agency for the Detection and Tracking of Near-Earth Objects, known as NEO.

This week, the Japanese Space Agency has released some great photos and videos of the rocky surface of a distant asteroid captured by two small vehicles.

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