A small asteroid grazes the Earth from Thursday to Friday night
Asteroid 2023 BU will pass 3,600 km from Earth’s surface. Despite this exceptional proximity, NASA has ruled out any danger of collision.
published
reading time : 1 minute.
Measures the size of the truck. On Thursday, January 26, it was announced that a small asteroid will pass near Earth at night from Thursday to Friday, with one of the closest paths ever recorded to our planet, but without any danger. NASA (article in English). Asteroid 2023 BU, recently discovered by an amateur astronomer, will pass near the southern tip of South America towards it. 1h27 Friday (Paris time).
The object was spotted on Saturday by an observatory in Crimea by amateur astronomer Gennady Borisov. It will only increase to 3 600 kilometers from Earth’s surface, much closer than many of the geostationary satellites orbiting the planet. However, NASA’s impact risk assessment system, Scout, quickly ruled out an impact on Earth.
Its diameter ranges from 3.5 to 8.5 metres
Even if that happens, the asteroid, which has a diameter of between 3.5 and 8.5 meters, will largely disintegrate. It is possible that only some of the debris will fall in the form of small meteorites.
In addition, the asteroid would come so close to the blue planet that Earth’s gravity would have to modify its orbit around the sun. Before it arrived, it took 359 days for the asteroid to orbit our star. It will now need 425, according to NASA.
View comments
“Incurable web evangelist. Hipster-friendly gamer. Award-winning entrepreneur. Falls down a lot.”