2015 TB145

Potentially hazardous near-Earth asteroid February 2018 yes #FFC2E0 2015 TB 145 Skull2015-TB145.jpg Radar image of 2015 TB 145 taken by the Arecibo Observatory on 30 October 2015 Pan-STARRS 10 October 2015 2015 TB 145 Apollo NEO PHA Mercury-crosser Venus-crosser Mars-crosser 31 May 2020 (JD 2459000.5) 2.97 0 3.11 yr (1,137 d) 3.9073 AU 0.2941 AU 2.1007 AU 0.86002 3.04 yr (1,112.1 d) 39.6899° 37.698° 121.744° 121.744° 0.323712325 ms / day 650 30 m (2130 100 ft) 600 m 5 hoursHalloween Skies to Include Dead Comet Flyby. NASA-JPL press release. 30 October 2015 2.938 h d on on 20.0 0.06 0.00295731 AU km on 2.41052 AU 2015 TB 145 is a sub-kilometer asteroid, classified as a near-Earth object and potentially hazardous asteroid of the Apollo group, approximately 650 m ft 1 off us in diameter. It safely passed 1.27 lunar distances from Earth on 31 October 2015 at 17:01 UTC, and passed by Earth again in November 2018. Discovery thumb|left|Discovery image of 2015 TB 145 from the Pan-STARRS1 telescope, operated by the Institute for Astronomy at the University of Hawaii The asteroid was first observed on 10 October 2015 by Pan-STARRS at an apparent magnitude of 20 using a 1.8 m in on us Ritchey–Chrétien telescope.For comparison, around 6 October 2012, the asteroid peaked at about apparent magnitude 20.9, but had a solar elongation of only about 75 degrees while 0.4 AU from Earth. ND2012 lower-alpha The asteroid was not discovered sooner because it spends most of its time beyond the orbit of Mars, has a large orbital inclination, and is usually well below the plane of the ecliptic. The asteroid last passed within 0.064 AU km mi on on of Earth on 29 October 1923 and will not pass that close again until 1 November 2088. The media has nicknamed the asteroid the "Great Pumpkin" https://time.com/4094227/nasa-great-pumpkin-asteroid/ NASA Says 'Great Pumpkin' Asteroid Will Fly by on Halloween Sarah Begley 30 October 2015 TIME Magazine after the animated Halloween television special It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, "Spooky", http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/10/151023-astronomy-asteroid-encounter-Earth-stargazing-nasa/ https://web.archive.org/web/20151023190406/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/10/151023-astronomy-asteroid-encounter-Earth-stargazing-nasa/ dead 23 October 2015 Asteroid Called 'Spooky' Will Buzz Earth on Halloween Andrew Fazekas 23 October 2015 National Geographic Society the "Halloween Asteroid", https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2015/10/its-dead/413518/ A Halloween Comet Marina Koren 31 October 2015 The Atlantic 1 January 2019 http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Operations/Space_Situational_Awareness/Halloween_asteroid_gives_us_a_miss_confirms_ESA Halloween Asteroid Gives us a Miss, Confirms ESA ESA 28 October 2015 European Space Agency 2 November 2015 4 May 2017 https://web.archive.org/web/20170504120924/http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Operations/Space_Situational_Awareness/Halloween_asteroid_gives_us_a_miss_confirms_ESA/ and the "Skull Asteroid" https://nypost.com/2015/10/31/spooky-skull-asteroid-whizzes-past-earth-on-halloween/ Spooky 'skull asteroid' whizzes past Earth on Halloween Nick Divito 31 October 2015 New York Post due to its skull-like appearance following radio frequency images taken at Arecibo Observatory and closest approach coincidentally occurring on Halloween day. 2015 flyby left|thumb|2015 TB 145 passed 1.27 LD from the Earth, and 0.75 LD from the Moon. On 31 October 2015 the asteroid passed 0.00191 AU km mi on on from the Moon and then passed 0.00325 AU km mi on off from Earth. The last approach this close by an object with absolute magnitude brighter than 20 was (612901) 2004 XP 14 on 3 July 2006 at 1.1 lunar distances. The next object this large known to pass this close to Earth is (137108) 1999 AN 10 that will pass about 1 lunar distance from Earth on 7 August 2027. It is estimated that there are about 2400 near-Earth asteroids 300–500 meters in diameter, of which about 1100 have been discovered. During closest approach to Earth the asteroid reached about apparent magnitude 10, which is much too faint to be seen by the naked eye. Even at peak brightness, the asteroid was a challenging target for amateur astronomers with small telescopes, best seen in the Northern Hemisphere. The glare from an 80% waning gibbous Moon also hindered observations.December 2018 At 11:00 UT the asteroid was in the constellation of Taurus about 9 degrees from the Moon and moving at a rate of 3.4 degrees per hour. At the time of closest approach of 17:00 UT the asteroid was in the constellation of Ursa Major about 56 degrees from the Moon and moving at a rate of 14.7 degrees per hour. After closest approach it quickly became too faint and too close to the Sun in the sky to be seen. 550px 2018 flyby thumb|Orbit of 2015 TB 145 After it had been unobservable for almost three years, 2015 TB 145 was recovered on 7 October 2018 by L. Buzzi at Schiaparelli Observatory (observatory code 204), at apparent magnitude 21.https://minorplanetcenter.net/mpec/K18/K18TD0.html MPEC 2018-T130: 2015 TB145 Minor Planet Center 10 October 2018 13 October 2018 The 11 November 2018 flyby was about 0.267 AU km mi on on from Earth.https://www.universetoday.com/140108/the-death-comet-will-pass-by-earth-just-after-halloween/ The "Death Comet" Will Pass By Earth Just After Halloween 1 October 2018 Williams, Matt Universe Today 13 October 2018 Observations Radar imagery The close approach was studied with radar using Goldstone, the Green Bank Telescope, and the Arecibo Observatory. It was one of the best radar targets of the year with a resolution as high as 2 m ft 1 us per pixel. Bistatic radar images created with the Green Bank Telescope had a resolution of 4 m ft 2 us per pixel. Arecibo images had a resolution of 7.5 m ft 2 us per pixel. 30 October31 October12:55–13:08 UTC1 November150px|150px150px Possible cometary origin The high orbital inclination and eccentricity suggest 2015 TB 145 may be an extinct comet that has shed its volatiles after numerous passes around the Sun.Agle D. C. http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=4745 NASA Spots the 'Great Pumpkin': Halloween Asteroid a Treat for Radar Astronomers NASA News 21 October 2015 2015-10-26 Orbital calculations by Petrus Jenniskens and Jérémie Vaubaillon showed that it was not expected to produce associated meteors in 2015. Any meteoroids were expected to pass more than 0.0007 AU km mi on off from Earth's orbit. If meteoroids related to this asteroid were to cross Earth's path, the radiant is expected to be near Northern Eridanus. Cameras for Allsky Meteor Surveillance (CAMS) did not detect any activity in the presumed area of the sky during 2013 and 2014. The object has a low albedo of 0.06, which is only slightly more than a typical comet that has an albedo of 0.03–0.05. Notes References MPEC 2015-T86: 2015 TB145 IAU Minor Planet Center 2015-10-13 http://www.minorplanetcenter.net/mpec/K15/K15T86.html 2015-10-14 (K15TE5B) 2018-11-20 last obs. JPL Small-Body Database Browser: (2015 TB145) https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=3729835 Jet Propulsion Laboratory 1 March 2020 https://www.aanda.org/articles/aa/pdf/2017/02/aa29584-16.pdf 1610.08267 Large Halloween asteroid at lunar distance Müller, T. G. Marciniak, A. Butkiewicz-Bąk, M. Duffard, R. Oszkiewicz, D. Käufl, H. U. Szakáts, R. Santana-Ros, T. Kiss, C. Santos-Sanz, P. Astronomy & Astrophysics 598 A63 10.1051/0004-6361/201629584 free February 2017 2017A&A...598A..63M 119162848 13 October 2018 last observation: 2015-10-27; arc: 17 days JPL Close-Approach Data: (2015 TB145) https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2015TB145;cad=1#cad 2015-10-22 Asteroid Size Estimator CNEOS NASA/JPL https://cneos.jpl.nasa.gov/tools/ast_size_est.html 16 February 2018 2015TB145 Ephemerides for 15 October 2015 through 31 October 2015 NEODyS (Near Earth Objects Dynamic Site) http://newton.spacedys.com/neodys/index.php?pc=1.1.3.1&n=2015TB145&oc=500&y0=2015&m0=10&d0=15&h0=0&mi0=0&y1=2015&m1=11&d1=1&h1=0&mi1=0&ti=1.0&tiu=hours 2015-10-14 2015 TB145 Orbit IAU Minor Planet Center http://www.minorplanetcenter.net/db_search/show_object?object_id=2015+TB145 2016-01-24 24 October 2015 Goldstone Radar Observations Planning: 2009 FD and 2015 TB145 NASA/JPL Asteroid Radar Research Lance A. M. Benner http://echo.jpl.nasa.gov/asteroids/2009FD/2009FD_planning.html 2015-10-24 Close-in Asteroid Offers Halloween Treat Sky & Telescope Kelly Beatty 2015-10-22 http://www.skyandtelescope.com/astronomy-news/observing-news/close-in-asteroid-halloween-treat-102220155/ 2015-10-26 2011-09-29 WISE Revises Numbers of Asteroids Near Earth NASA/JPL http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/WISE/multimedia/gallery/neowise/pia14734.html 2015-10-29 5 December 2017 https://web.archive.org/web/20171205154449/https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/WISE/multimedia/gallery/neowise/pia14734.html dead (NASA Space Telescope Finds Fewer Asteroids Near Earth) https://web.archive.org/web/20201112000034/http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/WISE/news/wise20110929.html 12 November 2020 2015TB145 Ephemerides for October 2012 NEODyS (Near Earth Objects Dynamic Site) http://newton.spacedys.com/neodys/index.php?pc=1.1.3.1&n=2015TB145&oc=500&y0=2012&m0=10&d0=1&h0=0&mi0=0&y1=2012&m1=10&d1=15&h1=17&mi1=36&ti=1.0&tiu=days 2015-10-24 Possible October 31 Meteors From Minor Planet 2015 TB_145 SETI Institute 2015-10-26 http://www.seti.org/seti-institute/news/possible-october-31-meteors-minor-planet-2015-tb145 2015-10-26 https://web.archive.org/web/20151028022252/http://www.seti.org/seti-institute/news/possible-october-31-meteors-minor-planet-2015-tb145 28 October 2015 (CBET 4154) 2015-11-03 PIA20043: Halloween Asteroid Rotation NASA/JPL-Caltech/GSSR/NRAO/GB http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA20043 2015-11-04 External links ALERT! Bright NEO 2015 TB145 on 29–31 October 2015 Ian Musgrave (itelescope) WebCite archive of JPL solution #2 from 14 October 2015 Halloween Asteroid is a Radar Science Treat (NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory on YouTube) Halloween Asteroid 2015 TB145 Flyby Jerry Hilburn, 10/31/2015 12:12-12:24AM, Catfish Observatory, Teirra Del Sol, Canon 5D and an Orion ED 80 Refractor on an AVX Celestron Mount 2015+TB145 2015TB145 3729835 # Category:Minor planet object articles (unnumbered) # Category:Venus-crossing asteroids Category:Mercury-crossing asteroids # # 20151031 20151010