October 31st, the day of darkness, the day your fears resurface, the day of monsters and creatures you once thought hid in your closet, the day of trick-or treating, of walking through haunted houses, and of playing the most hysterical pranks ever.
But guess what? It’s also the day of the Halloween asteroid. Yea, you heard that right folks, an asteroid is headed our way. This is nothing to be spooked out about though, because while it will be in a close proximity to Earth, it will brush past our planet. According to NASA, it will be one of the closest encounters to Earth by an accelerating object since 2006 and until August 2027, when the 2,600-foot asteroid 1999 AN10 will pass within just 238,000 miles of Earth
NASA also determined that from its speed, the asteroid could be a dormant comet. They also found out that this asteroid reflects more light and some have even speculated that, after some radar imaging from radio telescopes, it looks like a skull (International Business Times).
The asteroid, also called 2015 TB145, is estimated to be 1,300 feet across (which is about the height of the Empire State Building) and it will rush past our planet at 78,000 miles per hour. It would be more difficult to see it than was the super moon that had occurred earlier in the month.
Scientists at NASA hope to acquire new information about the Halloween asteroid such as its physical properties as well as utilize (new) equipment for radar imaging such as the radio telescopes like the National Radio Astronomy Observatory’s Green Bank Telescope in Green Bank, West Virginia, and the National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center's Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico.
"We plan to test a new capability to obtain radar images with two-meter resolution for the first time and hope to see unprecedented levels of detail," states Lance Benner, leader of NASA's asteroid radar research program," (Yahoo News). “In a real sense, this is like a spacecraft flyby where the Earth is the spacecraft that's encountering the asteroid closely enough for us to obtain detailed radar images,” (International Business).
Thankfully, it will not hit Earth, which means we are safe from a (potential) apocalypse or any mass species extinction. But this doesn’t mean that there’s no room for some mystical and astrological thought coming into play. Also, in the spirit of Halloween, it could be some kind of an ominous sign. In fact, the premonition of an impact of a meteorite is may be unlikely if we were not to take into account the astrophysical aspects of such a phenomenon. If we were to know that there would be a meteorite impact, then this would prompt global pandemonium. Plus, we wouldn’t exactly how to prepare for such a catastrophe. I mean, where else can we evacuate to, the moon, Mars…? Hm… But then again, it would depend on the scale of the impact.
Nevertheless, just a food for thought on this Hallow’s Eve as you try to mingle with or confront the dark forces and evil spirits, haha.
