Before you continue reading, the most important thing. What we are going to tell from now on It poses no danger to Earth.
The asteroid 2023 BU will pass this Thursday very close to earth. The object was discovered less than a week ago and is of small dimensions: in some media they compare it to a «delivery van».
The 2023 BU travels about 9.3 kilometers per second. According to the astrophysicist Gianluca Masi, the asteroid «will pass just under ten thousand kilometers from us.» Taking into account that this distance is measured from the center of the Earth, the body will pass to 3,500 kilometers from the earth’s surface.
The asteroid was discovered a few days ago by an amateur astronomer: engineer Gennady Borisov. The discovery was made less than a week ago, on January 21, from the Margo observatory of Nauchnij (Crimea).
Tonight, closest approach
The astronomers stress that BU 2023 does not represent any danger given its small size. the moment of closest approach will be this Thursday at 10:17 p.m. (Spanish time). The asteroid will pass within the orbit of the geostationary satellites that fly over Latin America.
Related news
The 2023 BU belongs to the group of apollo Asteroids, category that includes those that present an impact hazard to Earth. It is the third asteroid of this 2023 that approaches at a distance less than that between the Earth and the Moon and It is the fourth closest ever recorded.
From 8:17 p.m. it will be possible to follow the live broadcast organized by the Virtual Telescope Project from Italy.
They just have this scheme: the year of discovery, a first letter that indicates the fortnight of discovery, and a second with the order of the fortnight. Així, 2023 BU vol dir «descobert enguany, el 21è (lletra U) de la segona meitat de gener (lletra B)». Quants se’n descobreixen!
— Joan Anton Català Amigó (@estelsiplanetes) January 25, 2023