This is a graphic depicting the orbit of asteroid 2015 TB145. The asteroid will safely fly past Earth slightly farther out than the moon’s orbit on Oct. 31 at 10:05 a.m. Pacific (1:05 p.m. EDT and 17:05 UTC). Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
NASA scientists are tracking the upcoming Halloween flyby of asteroid 2015 TB145 with several optical observatories and the radar capabilities of the agency’s Deep Space Network at Goldstone, CA. The asteroid will fly past Earth at a safe distance slightly farther than the moon’s orbit on Oct. 31 at 10:01 am PDT. The flyby of the estimated 1300-ft-wide asteroid is a science target of opportunity, allowing instruments on “spacecraft Earth” to scan it during the close pass.
Asteroid 2015 TB145 was discovered on Oct. 10, 2015, by the University of Hawaii’s Pan-STARRS-1 (Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System) on Haleakala, Maui, part of the NASA-funded Near-Earth Object Observation (NEOO) Program. This is the closest currently known approach by an object this large until asteroid 1999 AN10, at 2,600 feet in size, approaches at 1 lunar distance (238,000 miles from Earth) in August 2027.
“At the point of [TB145] closest approach, it will be no closer than about 300,000 miles – 480,000 km or 1.3 lunar distances. Even though that is relatively close by celestial standards, it is expected to be fairly faint, so night-sky Earth observers would need at least a small telescope to view it.” The gravitational influence of the asteroid is so small it will have no detectable effect on the moon or anything here on Earth, including our planet’s tides or tectonic plates.
“The close approach of 2015 TB145 at about 1.3 times the distance of the moon’s orbit, coupled with its size, suggests it will be one of the best asteroids for radar imaging we’ll see for several years,” said Lance Benner, of JPL During tracking. They will use the 34m DSS 13 antenna at Goldstone to bounce radio waves off the asteroid to obtain radar images of the asteroid as fine as about 7 ft/pixel to see surface features, shape, dimensions and other physical properties. “The asteroid’s orbit is very oblong with a high inclination to below the plane of the solar system,” said Benner. “Such a unique orbit, along with its high encounter velocity — about 35 km or 22 miles/s/s – raises the question of whether it may be some type of comet. If so, then this would be the first time that the Goldstone radar has imaged a comet from such a close distance.” http://www.nasa.gov/feature/nasa-spots-the-great-pumpkin-halloween-asteroid-a-treat-for-radar-astronomers
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