On October 31, 2015, an asteroid shaped like a human skull flew by Earth.
‘On This Day in Space’ Video Series on Space.com
It arrived with excellent timing on Halloween, which made the already-creepy asteroid even creepier. During its closest approach, it was about 300,000 miles from Earth, or 1.3 times the average distance between Earth and the moon. So, it didn't pose a threat to our planet. It was discovered by astronomers at Hawaii's Pan-STARRS observatory only three weeks before the flyby, and it was given the official designation "2015 TB145." But no one knew what it looked like until the day before Halloween, when the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico captured the first radar images. NASA called the asteroid the "Great Pumpkin," while others called it the "Halloween Asteroid."
‘On This Day in Space’ Video Series on Space.com
It arrived with excellent timing on Halloween, which made the already-creepy asteroid even creepier. During its closest approach, it was about 300,000 miles from Earth, or 1.3 times the average distance between Earth and the moon. So, it didn't pose a threat to our planet. It was discovered by astronomers at Hawaii's Pan-STARRS observatory only three weeks before the flyby, and it was given the official designation "2015 TB145." But no one knew what it looked like until the day before Halloween, when the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico captured the first radar images. NASA called the asteroid the "Great Pumpkin," while others called it the "Halloween Asteroid."
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TechTranscript
00:00On this day, in space.
00:03On October 31st, 2015, an asteroid shaped like a human skull flew by Earth.
00:09It arrived with excellent timing on Halloween, which made the already creepy asteroid even
00:14creepier.
00:15During its closest approach, it was about 300,000 miles from Earth, or 1.3 times the
00:19average distance between Earth and the Moon, so it didn't pose a threat to our planet.
00:23It was discovered by astronomers at Hawaii's Pan-STARRS Observatory only three weeks before
00:28the flyby.
00:29And it was given the official designation 2015 TB145.
00:34But no one knew what it looked like until the day before Halloween, when the Arecibo
00:37Observatory in Puerto Rico captured the first radar images.
00:40NASA called the asteroid the Great Pumpkin, while others called it the Halloween Asteroid.
00:45And that's what happened on this day in space.