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NASA Says Skull-Faced Zombie Comet Will Make Halloween Flyby

1 minute read
By Jack Dickey

 

This image of asteroid 2015 TB145, a dead comet, was generated using radar data collected by the National Science Foundation's 1,000-foot (305-meter) Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico. The radar image was taken on Oct. 30, 2015, and the image resolution is 25 feet (7.5 meters) per pixel
This image of asteroid 2015 TB145, a dead comet, was generated using radar data collected by the National Science Foundation's 1,000-foot (305-meter) Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico on Oct. 30, 2015.NAIC-Arecibo/NSF

A large space rock, categorized as 2015 TB145, will pass by Earth Saturday afternoon, 302,000 miles away and just in time for Halloween.

NASA had previously dubbed it the Great Pumpkin, referencing the old Peanuts cartoons, but new radar maps taken on Friday by the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico show the face of a skull, at least by the eggheads’ reckoning. If you didn’t notice the supposed resemblance yourself, rest assured it’s not the first time people have subconsciously seen faces in images from beyond the Earth.

Scientists had also previously thought 2015 TB145 an asteroid, but they’ve now figured it a dead comet—a comet that has lost the ice that gives it a glow.

The zombie rock will be closest to earth at 1:01 p.m. EDT, but thanks to an abundance of daylight most in North America will be unable to see it. The major scares of Halloween will likely wait until dark.

See the Spookiest Space Photos

Witch Head' Brews Baby StarsA witch appears to be screaming out into space in this new image from NASA's Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE. The infrared portrait shows the Witch Head nebula, named after its resemblance to the profile of a wicked witch. Astronomers say the billowy clouds of the nebula, where baby stars are brewing, are being lit up by massive stars. Dust in the cloud is being hit with starlight, causing it to glow with infrared light, which was picked up by WISE's detectors.The Witch Head nebula is estimated to be hundreds of light-years away in the Orion constellation, just off the famous hunter's knee.WISE was recently "awakened" to hunt for asteroids in a program called NEOWISE. The reactivation came after the spacecraft was put into hibernation in 2011, when it completed two full scans of the sky, as planned.Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
The Witch Head Nebula This infrared image shows the Witch Head nebula hundreds of light-years away in the Orion constellation, taken by NASA's Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE. The clouds of the nebula, where baby stars are brewing, are being lit up by massive stars. Dust in the cloud is hit with starlight, causing it to glow with infrared light. NASA/JPL-Caltech
The Reflection Nebula
The Reflection Nebula Reflection nebulae do not emit light on their own, they are illuminated by a light source embedded within. The bright, young star left of center gives NGC 1999 its brightness. The gas and dust of the nebula is left over from the star's formation.NASA/The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI)
Black Widow Nebula Hides in the DustIn this Spitzer image, the two opposing bubbles are being formed in opposite directions by the powerful outflows from massive groups of forming stars. The baby stars can be seen as specks of yellow where the two bubbles overlap. When individual stars form from molecular clouds of gas and dust they produce intense radiation and very strong particle winds. Both the radiation and the stellar winds blow the dust outward from the star creating a cavity or bubble. In the case of the Black Widow Nebula, astronomers suspect that a large cloud of gas and dust condensed to create multiple clusters of massive star formation. The combined winds from these groups of large stars probably blew out bubbles into the direction of least resistance, forming a double bubble. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Wisc.
The Black Widow Nebula Astronomers suspect that a large cloud of gas and dust condensed to create multiple clusters of massive star formations in the Black Widow nebula. The combined winds from these groups of large stars likely blew out bubbles into the direction of least resistance, forming a double bubble which appear as the spider's legs. NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Wisc.
English: The large disk of gas surrounding Fomalhaut is clearly visible in this image. It is not centred on Fomalhaut quite as predicted, hinting that the gravity of another body – perhaps a planet – is pulling it out of shape.Date 13 November 2008Source http://www.spacetelescope.org/images/html/heic0821c.html (direct link)http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2008/39/image/b/Author NASA, ESA and P. Kalas (University of California, Berkeley, USA)
Great Eye of Sauron The large disk of gas surrounding Fomalhaut, dubbed the 'Great Eye of Sauron' by New Scientist magazine, is clearly visible in this image. Fomalhaut is the brightest star in the constellation Piscis Austrinus.NASA/ESA/P. Kalas (University of California, Berkeley, USA)
NGC 2467 and Surroundings*
Franken Nebula The stellar cluster NGC 2467, also known as Franken Nebula, is located in the southern constellation of Puppis. NGC 2467 is a very active stellar nursery, where new stars are born continuously from large clouds of dust and gas.ESO
A NASA photo taken Oct. 8 appears to look like Jack-O-Lantern.NASA/GSFC/SDO
Jack-o-Lantern Sun Active regions on the sun combined to resemble a jack-o-lantern’s face on Oct. 8, 2014. The active regions in this image appear brighter because they emit more light and energy.NASA/GSFC/SDO
Jupiter's Giant Eye
Jupiter's Giant Eye On April 21, 2014, when Hubble was being used to monitor changes in Jupiter's immense Great Red Spot (GRS) storm, the shadow of the Jovian moon Ganymede swept across the center of the GRS giving the giant planet the appearance of having a pupil in the center of a 10,000-mile-diameter "eye." NASA/ESA/A. Simon (Goddard Space Flight Center)
LBN 438
Spooky Sprite In this image of LBN 438 nebula, dubbed Spooky Sprite by astronomer Adam Block, the cloud of dust glows both from scattered starlight and extended red emission due to the radiation of some nearby star. Adam Block/Mount Lemmon SkyCenter
A supernova remnant in the Milky Way about 13,000 light years from Earth.
Zombie Star Tycho's supernova remnant is perhaps the most famous of the Type Ia supernovae, known as 'zombie' stars, which are white dwarves that feed off of stellar neighbors.Chandra X-ray Observatory Center/X-ray: NASA/CXC/Rutgers/K.Erik
SH2-136 The Ghosts of CepheusThe Ghosts of Cepheus present a cosmic view with the chiaroscuro that the oldgreat painters might have applied to their canvases. Here a few bright starsilluminate an otherwise dark and cold molecular cloud of gas and dust some1,200 light years away. Their ghoulish and scalloped shapes are as surprisingas they are rare in other similar clouds. Note the conical outflows on theright side of the cloud where a star is forming and blowing dust from deepwithin.Summer 2011
The Ghosts of Cepheus In this image of SH2-136 nebula, also known as the Ghosts of Cepheus, a few bright stars illuminate an otherwise dark and cold molecular cloud of gas and dust some 1,200 light years away.Adam Block/Mount Lemmon SkyCenter
October 2012NGC 7380: The Wizard Nebula
Wizard Nebula NGC 7380, also known as the Wizard Nebula, is a star-forming region surrounding a cluster of young stars. Radiation from the developing stars lights up the nebula.Adam Block/Mount Lemmon SkyCenter

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Write to Jack Dickey at jack.dickey@time.com