 |
This animated GIF was generated using radar data collected
by the National Science Foundation's 1,000-foot (305-meter) Arecibo Observatory
in Puerto Rico. The six radar images used in the animation were taken on Oct.
30, 2015, and the image resolution is 25 feet (7.5 meters) per pixel.
Credits: NAIC-Arecibo/NSF
|
The large space rock that will zip past Earth this Halloween
is most likely a dead comet that, fittingly, bears an eerie resemblance to a
skull
.
Scientists observing asteroid 2015 TB145 with NASA's
Infrared Telescope Facility (IRTF) on Mauna Kea, Hawaii, have determined that
the celestial object is more than likely a dead comet that has shed its
volatiles after numerous passes around the sun.
The belated comet has also been observed by optical and
radar observatories around the world, providing even more data, including our
first close-up views of its surface. Asteroid 2015 TB145 will safely fly by our
planet at just under 1.3 lunar distances, or about 302,000 miles (486,000
kilometers), on Halloween (Oct. 31) at 1 p.m. EDT (10 a.m. PDT, 17:00 UTC).
The first radar images of the dead comet were generated by
the National Science Foundation's 305-meter (1,000-foot) Arecibo Observatory in
Puerto Rico. The radar images from Arecibo indicate the object is spherical in
shape and approximately 2,000 feet (600 meters) in diameter and completes a
rotation about once every five hours.
"The IRTF data may indicate that the object might be a
dead comet, but in the Arecibo images it appears to have donned a skull costume
for its Halloween flyby," said Kelly Fast, IRTF program scientist at NASA
Headquarters and acting program manager for NASA's NEO Observations Program.
Managed by the University of Hawaii for NASA, the IRTF's
3-meter (10 foot) telescope collected infrared data on the object. The data may
finally put to rest the debate over whether 2015 TB145, with its unusual orbit,
is an asteroid or is of cometary origin.
Source: NASA
DON'T FORGET TO DROP YOUR COMMENT
No comments:
Post a Comment