A small space rock will fly very close to Earth tonight, but don’t worry, we’re completely safe.
Space rock named THIS 2023was first seen speeding towards Earth on Saturday (January 21) by the famous Crimean astronomer and astrophotographer Gennady Borisov, the same person who in 2018 discovered first interstellar cometwhich now bears his name, Borisov.
asteroid BU 2023 is only 11.5 to 28 feet (3.5 to 8.5 meters) wide, which means it won’t pose a danger to our planet even if the two bodies’ paths intersect. However, observations of BU 2023 by other astronomers, which followed Borisov’s discovery, confirmed that the asteroid would fly past our planet with a small but safe margin of 2,240 miles (3,600 kilometers). The rock will approach the southern tip of South America today (January 26) at 7:27 pm EDT (00:27 GMT January 27), according to NASA. (will open in a new tab) You can watch a free live stream of the asteroid flyby on Space.com, courtesy of astrophysicist Gianluca Masi of the Virtual Telescope Project in Italy, at 2:45 pm EDT (7:45 pm GMT).
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During its closest approach, BU 2023 will be about ten times closer to the planet than the orbit of geostationary meteorological satellites, and almost six times closer than the orbit of navigation satellites such as USA GPS constellation. This distance makes the passage of the rock the fourth closest of any asteroid ever recorded, apart from those that actually hit the Earth.
With its small size, BU 2023 does not pose a danger to the planet at all. If I were to enter Earth’s atmosphere, it will basically burn up, forming a stunning fireball. A few small fragments could potentially survive and fall to the ground in the form meteorites.
The combination of the rock’s small size and the close proximity it will pass the much larger Earth means BU’s trajectory will change slightly in 2023 as the rock receives a gravitational push from the planet, NASA said in a statement.
Calculations based on recent observations show that before its visit to Earth, the orbit of a space rock around sun was “roughly circular” and took 359 days. Earth gravity will push BU 2023 into a more elliptical orbit that will carry the rock halfway to Mars at the farthest point from the sun. This change will add 66 days to BU 2023’s orbital period.
The eyes of hundreds of professional and amateur astronomers are expected to follow the collision tonight, and you could also witness a close encounter. For example, Italian astronomer Gianluca Masi will be sharing his observations online from 2:15 pm EST (19:15 GMT) today on his Channel of the Virtual Telescope Project. (will open in a new tab)
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