Large asteroid to pass Earth on Halloween

Asteroid 2015 TB145, measuring some 320 metres in diameter, will pass by the Earth at about 1.3 lunar distances on the night of October 30-31 – the closest flyby of a space rock since 2006

(planetary positions as of Oct 20)

CLOSE ENCOUNTER

Asteroid

2015 TB145

Earth orbit

Orbital period

3.08 years

Mars

0.3km-wide

asteroid and

Empire State Building

shown to scale

Earth

Asteroid’s

highly eccentric

orbit delayed its

discovery until

October 10 this year

Venus

Mercury

Jupiter

orbit

Asteroid

approaching at

unusually high speed

of 35km per second

DISTANCE FROM EARTH

Earth

Moon

384,400km

Artist’s

impression of asteroid flyby

(not 2015 TB145)

Asteroid

1999 AN10

37,000km

(minimum)

in 2027

Asteroid

2015 TB145

490,000km

on Oct 30-31

Asteroid

2004 XP14

440,000km

in 2006

Size of Earth, Moon, asteroids

and planets increased for clarity

Sources: NASA, wire agencies

Picture: ESA / P. Carril