![]() ![]() The asteroid will also pass within the orbits of geostationary satellites, which circle the Earth above the equator at an altitude of 22,236 miles.Ģ023 BU was only discovered this past Saturday, but astronomers have calculated its orbit accurately and there is no chance it will collide with our planet this time around.īy some definitions, the asteroid will even pass through the uppermost region of the Earth's atmosphere known as the "exosphere," which may extend anywhere from around 6,000 miles to 120,000 miles above the Earth, depending on the interpretation used.īut many scientists do not consider the exosphere, which gradually fades into the vacuum of space, to be a true part of the atmosphere because the air is so thin in this region. The approach is so close that it is less than 3 percent of the average distance between the Earth and the moon. In fact, the flyby of 2023 BU is the fourth nearest of more than 35,000 past and future Earth approaches in the CNEOS database, which contains data covering the 300 years from 1900 to 2200. While this may sound like a long way away, in astronomical terms it is a tiny distance. How to watch: You can see the asteroid fly by Earth live through a YouTube video hosted by Italy’s Virtual Telescope Project, which will kick off the live feed at around 1 p.m. Given that the average radius of the Earth-the distance from the center to the surface-is considered to be roughly 4,000 miles, 2023 BU will zip past us at an altitude of around 2,500 miles above the ground. That’s the closest an asteroid has come since an asteroid came less than 700,000 miles from the planet on Jan. Eastern Time, data from NASA's Center for Near Earth Object Studies (CNEOS) shows.Īt that point, the space rock will come "only" about 6,500 miles from the center of the Earth while traveling at roughly 33,300 miles per hour. The asteroid, known as 2023 BU, will make a close approach Thursday at approximately 7:30 p.m. NASA will host the stream on their Facebook, Twitter and YouTube for members of the public to watch. Diameter Diameter value when known or a range (min - max) estimated using the asteroid's absolute magnitude (H) and limiting albedos of 0.25 and 0.05. It predicts the satellite will hit the asteroid at around 7.14pm (ET) - 12.14am (GMT) in the UK. An asteroid just discovered this past weekend is set for an extremely close encounter with Earth-and you can watch it live as it zooms past our planet. Asteroid absolute magnitude (in general, smaller H implies larger asteroid diameter).
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