'Hazardous' Asteroid to Approach Earth on Halloween

While this giant asteroid is expected to safely pass us by, it will zoom by at a distance of only 499,000 kilometers from Earth. Occurring on October 31, the rock will pass at a speed of approximately 78,000mph.

That speed won’t prevent those who’d like to observe the rare occasion from doing so — as long as they have access to a telescope. The best time for viewing is at its closest point of approach, believed to be around 11:14 am ET.

The asteroid, named 2015 TB145, was identified by NASA only two weeks ago, which is considered to be fairly short notice for space observers.

“The asteroid is on an extremely eccentric and a high inclination orbit,” NASA said in a statement, explaining why the asteroid had previously gone unobserved.

The other curious fact is that the space giant is classified as “hazardous,” since it passes within the threshold of proximity to Earth, which stands at a distance of 4,600,000 mile (7,403,00km).

Moreover, NASA noted, 2015 TB145 has an “erratic orbit,” which means they can’t predict its path with certainty.

Still, the space agency stresses that there’s no need for concern.

Once TB145 passes, it will take quite a long time for the next asteroid of similar size to come so close to our planet.

“This is the closest approach by a known object this large until 1999 AN10 approaches within 1 lunar distance in August 2027,” the statements reads.

Discovery of 2015 TB145 came just barely two weeks after a group of doomsday prophets expected the Earth’s destruction as the result of an asteroid collision. There was also doomsday speculation last August, with some predicting that a space rock would impact Earth between the 15 and 28 of September, striking off the coast of Puerto Rico.

NASA disproved those theories, stressing that all Potentially Hazardous Asteroids have less than a “0.01 per cent chance of impacting Earth in the next 100 years.”