Asteroid TB145 last made the headlines when NASA spotted the asteroid zipping past Earth on October 31, 2015.
The US space agency dubbed the asteroid the “Great Pumpkin” due to its uncanny resemblance to a human skull.
At the time, the asteroid passed within 1.3 lunar distance of the Earth, or more than 300,000 miles.
NASA said at the time: “The close approach of 2015 TB145 at about 1.3 times the distance of the moon’s orbit, coupled with its size, suggests it will be one of the best asteroids for radar imaging we’ll see for several years.”
Asteroid TB145 was first picked up by the University of Hawaii’s Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System (PANSTARRS-1) on Haleakala, Maui, on October 10, 2015.
NASA’s astronomers estimated the formidable space rock measures somewhere around 1,300 ft in diameter.
The asteroid’s creepy features were revealed on detailed radar images snapped by the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico.
The skull-like asteroid is now set to haunt the night skies again this autumn.
When will Asteroid TB145 pass the Earth again?
This time the asteroid will miss out on Halloween’s “trick or treating” by almost two weeks because it is expected to appear early in November.
The asteroid will also flyby at a less hair-raising distance of more than 25 million miles or about 104 lunar distances.
Asteroid TB145 is expected to make its closest approach to Earth on November 11.
According to Thomas Müller, a researcher at the Max-Planck Institute, it will taken another 70 years for the skull asteroid to come close to Earth again.
He said: “The next slightly more exciting encounter will be around Halloween’s day in the year 2088, when the object approaches Earth to a distance of about 20 lunar distances.
“The encounter on Halloween’s day 2015 was the closest approach of an object of that size since 2006, and the next known similar event is the passage of 137108 on August 7, 2027.
“Later, 99942 Apophis will follow on April 13, 2029 with an Earth passage at approximately 0.1 lunar distances.”
The distances involved in the approach might not be favourable for astronomers but some scientists are positive they can still learn a lot from the space rock.
Astronomer Pablo Santos-Sanz, from the Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia, said TB145 can help scientists better understand similar-sized objects that approach Earth.
But the skull asteroid is not the only giant space rock barreling towards the Earth in the near future.
Between October 4 and November 7, NASA estimates at least eight asteroids will make a so-called Earth Close Approach.
The largest of these asteroids, dubbed Asteroid 2002 VE68, measures up to 1,542 ft in diameter.