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Mysterious UFO dubbed 'WTF' is on a collision course with Earth: Space junk will crash into the Indian Ocean next month

WTF1190F is predicted to crash into the Indian Ocean on 13 November
Object may be part of a rocket from a lunar mission or even an Apollo craft
Most of WTF1190F is predicted to burn up in the atmosphere upon entry
It will give experts a rare opportunity to see an impact from start to finish

Published: 06:34 EST, 26 October 2015 | Updated: 08:44 EST, 26 October 2015

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A strange piece of space junk is expected to plummet to Earth in November, but researchers don't currently have any idea what it is.

The object, dubbed WTF1190F, is set to land in the Indian Ocean, around 40 miles (65km) off the southern tip of Sri Lanka, at 6:20 UTC on 13 November.

It measures up to 7ft (2 metres) long and it could be a piece of rocket stage from a recent lunar mission, or even part of an Apollo program craft that has been in space for more than 40 years.

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Astronomers at the European Space Agency’s (Esa) Near Earth Object office in the Netherlands are monitoring the space junk’s journey carefully (WTF1190F is circled) and said it could help scientists improve our understanding of how any object - man-made or natural - interacts with Earth’s atmosphere

But rather than threatening life on Earth as we know it, the object will give scientists a rare opportunity to observe a relatively small impact from its approach to landing.

WTF1190F’s trajectory was first calculated in 2012.

The unknown object was rediscovered by astronomers at the Catalina Sky Survey, based at the University of Arizona earlier this month.

Astronomers at the European Space Agency’s (Esa) Near Earth Object office in Noordwijk, the Netherlands, are now monitoring the space junk’s journey carefully.

It is also being used to test plans put in place to monitor potentially dangerous space objects hurtling towards Earth.

The agency said that WT1190F 'poses very little risk to anyone but could help scientists improve our understanding of how any object – man-made or natural – interacts with Earth’s atmosphere.'

WTF1190F’s trajectory was first calculated in 2012. The unknown object was rediscovered by astronomers at the Catalina Sky Survey based at the University of Arizona earlier this month.This film was put together using images taken by the University of Hawaii's 7ftt (2.2-metre) telescope on Mauna Kea, Hawaii

The object, dubbed WTF1190F, is set to land in the Indian Ocean, around 40 miles (65km) off the southern tip of Sri Lanka (marked on this map in red) at 6:20 UTC on 13 November

Esa said that WT1190F 'poses very little risk to anyone' but by monitoring it, experts can practice and perfect procedures that could be used to monitor a potentially devastating impact by a large asteroid (illustrated)

Bill Gray, an independent astronomy software developer who has been tracking the debris with Nasa’s Jet propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, told Nature the space junk was travelling in an elliptical orbit, that at its longest point, is twice as long as the distance between Earth and the moon.

The way it moves also suggests the object is hollow inside.

It's not known how many pieces of space junk orbit the Earth and moon, but WT1190F is rare.

It is believed to be one of only 20 or so man-made objects tracked in distant orbit, according to Gareth Williams, an astronomer at the Minor Planet Centre in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

And it's not known exactly how the object was propelled onto a collision-course with Earth.

It's not known how many pieces of space junk (illustrated) orbit the Earth and moon, but WT1190F is rare. It is believed to be one of only 20 or so man-made objects tracked in distant orbit, according to Gareth Williams, an astronomer at the Minor Planet Centre in Cambridge, Massachusetts

An astrophysicist said WTF1190F is likely ‘a lost piece of space history that’s come back to haunt us’ and while it probably dates from recent years, it could be a piece of from an Apollo Mission. A piece of the Saturn V rocket (pictured), which enabled man to first walk on the moon, was spotted orbiting Earth in 2002

Jonathan McDowell, an astrophysicist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Centre for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Massachusetts, said WTF1190F is probably ‘a lost piece of space history that’s come back to haunt us’.

While it is more likely the junk dates from recent years, it could be a piece of from an Apollo Mission, over 40 years ago.

A piece of the Saturn V rocket, which enabled man to first walk on the moon, was spotted orbiting Earth in 2002.

If WTF1190F is a piece of rocket it will be the first piece of man-made junk to return home independently.

Mr Gray predicts most of it should burn up upon entering the atmosphere, so it will not create a terrifying tidalwave or crater as seen in disaster films.

But despite this, he said: ‘I would not necessarily want to be going fishing directly underneath it.’

NASA PREDICTS 'NEAR MISS' WITH ASTEROID ON HALLOWEEN

On Halloween, a scary 1.5 mile-wide (2.5km) asteroid is set to make a 'close' encounter with Earth.

The space rock, named 2015 TB145, will safely fly past our planet at 78,000mph (125,500km/h) at 310,000 miles (499,000km) away.

That's around 1.3 times the distance between the Earth and the moon, allowing anyone with a telescope to see the event.

The asteroid, named 2015 TB145, will make its closest approach to Earth on 11:14 a.m. ET (3:14 pm GMT) on October 31, and can be seen by anyone using a telescope

The 'high velocity' Halloween asteroid's closest approach will take place on 11:14 a.m. ET (3:14 pm GMT) on October 31.

It will be the closest approach to Earth since July 2006 and scientists believe we probably won't see another large asteroid come this close to the planet until 2027.

While there's no danger to Earth, Nasa has described the asteroid as 'hazardous' as it comes 4,600,000 mile (7,403,00km) threshold of proximity to our planet.

The asteroid was spotted by Nasa a fortnight ago, which is relatively short notice for the space agency.

'The asteroid is on an extremely eccentric and a high inclination orbit,' the space agency explained.

'This is the closest approach by a known object this large until 1999 AN10 approaches within 1 lunar distance in August 2027'

Because of its erratic orbit, Nasa isn't sure where it will go, but the space agency says it's confident it will not hit Earth.