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It's A Bird, It's A Plane, It's The 'Great Pumpkin' Asteroid Passing By Earth This Halloween

Written by Meteorologist Chris SpearsDENVER (CBS4) - It's official name is asteroid 2015 TB145, but NASA simply calls it the 'Great Pumpkin' because it will pass by Earth on Halloween.

The asteroid was just discovered on October 10, 2015 by a NASA funded program at the University of Hawaii.

Scientists say the 1,300-foot-wide asteroid will pass by Earth at a safe distance slightly further away than the moon's orbit, and that it's gravitational influence will have no detectable effect on the planet or the moon.

If you're hoping to catch a glimpse of it here in Colorado the news isn't good. It'll pass by our planet at 11:05 a.m. local time when the sun is shining bright. But don't be too disappointed because even if it were clear and dark scientists say the view would be fairly faint, even with a telescope.

While this event falls out of the purview for Boulder's Space Weather Prediction Center, it will be monitored by several other government agencies, including NASA's Deep Space Network in Gladstone, California, where a 110-foot antenna will be used to bounce radio waves off the asteroid.

That will allow radar echoes to be collected by the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in Green Bank, West Virginia and the National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center in Puerto Rico.

Scientists hope that radar images will provide information about the asteroid including it's surface features, shape, dimensions and other physical properties.

To read more about the 'Great Pumpkin' asteroid visit NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory by clicking here.

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(credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech)

Meteorologist Chris Spears writes about stories related to weather and climate in Colorado. Check out his bio, connect with him on Facebook or follow him on Twitter @ChrisCBS4.

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