Update at 3:45 PM ET: The webcast of the Asteroid 2023 BU Virtual Telescope Project is now scheduled 4:15 PM EST (21:15 GMT) because of the clouds.
A newly discovered asteroid will come very close to Earth this week.
Asteroid 2023 BU has a diameter of between 12 and 28 feet (3.8 to 8.5 meters) and was discovered on Saturday, January 21 by astronomer Gennady Borisov at the Margo Observatory in Crimea. When it crosses Earth at its closest point on Thursday, Jan. 26 at 4:17 p.m. EDT (2117 GMT), the space rock will be within 3% of Earth’s average moon at a distance of 2,178 miles (3,506 kilometers). above ground. The earth’s surface.
For comparison, most geostationary satellites orbit a location about 22,200 miles (35,800 km).
Most asteroids are not bright enough to see without a powerful telescope; Fortunately, you can watch asteroid 2023 BU make a close encounter with our planet thanks to the Virtual Telescope Project. Astronomer Gianluca Massi will host a free live broadcast of the asteroid’s passage on www Arabization project (Opens in a new tab) or so YouTube channel (Opens in a new tab) Thursday January 26th of 3:45 PM EST (2045 GMT) After a short delay due to clouds at the observation site of Project Ceccano, Italy.
Around: Asteroids: Fun facts and information about these space rocks
The asteroid is currently in the constellation Ursa Major. Due to its small size, asteroid 2023 BU is rather opaque at magnitude 19.15, but it can be seen through a powerful telescope operated by an experienced skywatcher.
Fortunately for those of us who aren’t veteran asteroid trackers, the Virtual Telescope Project will broadcast all of this. Asteroid 2023 BU will be very close, but for sure, it will be facing us in the future [within] Massey wrote about the project, less than 10,000 kilometers from the center of the Earth, or about 25% of the distance of the geostationary satellites. website (Opens in a new tab).
Asteroid 2023 BU is known as an Apollo-like asteroid, which means that its orbit passes through Earth’s orbit but spends most of its time far from the path of our planet, according to Center for Near-Earth Object Studies (Opens in a new tab)And It is based at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. 2023 BU orbits the Sun every 425 days and will not return near our planet until December 6, 2036.
While asteroid 2023 BU will pass very close to the terrain, it is not classified as potentially hazardous. In fact, its small size means it is more likely to decompose and burn up the Earth’s atmosphere.
Are you hoping to see asteroid 2023 BU? Our guides to the best telescopes and best binoculars can help you get started on the path to good optics. You can also check out our guides on the best cameras for astrophotography and the best lenses for getting started with astrophotography.
Editor’s note: If you managed to snap a photo of asteroid 2023 BU and would like to share it with Space.com readers, submit your photos, comments, and your name and location to spacephotos@space.com.
Follow Brett on Twitter @employee (Opens in a new tab). Follow us @employee (Opens in a new tab)or in FB (Opens in a new tab) And instagram (Opens in a new tab).
https://lookerstudio.google.com/reporting/5e4eb65e-c745-4cd9-a6f8-a1526e549286
https://lookerstudio.google.com/reporting/cf980d33-3cfd-4b75-a9c4-ef215e7265e5
https://lookerstudio.google.com/reporting/c91eea3d-b71b-4f8d-88b3-eb7e6cd6362d
https://lookerstudio.google.com/reporting/89f6f1b4-9c28-41c7-979a-33854f27c174
https://lookerstudio.google.com/reporting/a69e49c9-fa48-47c8-bd63-f9c766343a17
https://lookerstudio.google.com/reporting/22a97309-2360-49ca-9269-e1e53e9c41d8
https://lookerstudio.google.com/reporting/8fb627ea-ef04-4c25-a9d0-156dffc22b4c
https://lookerstudio.google.com/reporting/6e5bacf8-e3c1-431b-a613-35224a72b9f3
https://lookerstudio.google.com/reporting/71a680a1-2e3d-473a-b1f0-376b21032e28
https://lookerstudio.google.com/reporting/eb083814-0ab3-442e-ba9e-447b6bdc1a88
https://lookerstudio.google.com/reporting/d7143e8e-0660-4415-8985-949b7759c483
https://lookerstudio.google.com/reporting/e1c20e30-64e5-483b-b3fa-06381bb92f0e
https://lookerstudio.google.com/reporting/9311cd1c-de92-4ec0-8eba-6456d8973d1e
https://lookerstudio.google.com/reporting/98b01347-c5cf-48ff-9b88-c0a459213f6a
https://lookerstudio.google.com/reporting/a1acce00-5936-4c70-a4cd-3ed03a5c3279
https://lookerstudio.google.com/reporting/5a2dcb73-8c4c-4a4d-ab26-e7f61964ebb7
https://lookerstudio.google.com/reporting/2bf949be-1056-43ac-8e8b-2ad9ffd05c74
https://lookerstudio.google.com/reporting/2924973f-97ca-4925-9520-b5170839d91a
https://lookerstudio.google.com/reporting/cf137b3c-c20d-48de-9054-27c976f518d1
https://lookerstudio.google.com/reporting/feb16e72-212a-4afa-bb4b-b1111816e797
https://lookerstudio.google.com/reporting/a032988c-513c-4f8a-817f-0e9d7249f2b2
https://lookerstudio.google.com/reporting/53d46104-08d6-4a89-ad62-14f4ffc021c4
https://lookerstudio.google.com/reporting/98f287c0-7606-4f4f-96ad-5517819e2d01
https://lookerstudio.google.com/reporting/3924bdc2-045a-4236-b96d-1639e33ef71e
https://lookerstudio.google.com/reporting/b1ba494f-8696-4e4d-aadb-5c23084d1837
https://lookerstudio.google.com/reporting/95ed8df4-7642-4fdd-87e3-71bdef2b4fdf
https://lookerstudio.google.com/reporting/243bc6e1-9d15-4bdc-8882-8637024a4c78
https://lookerstudio.google.com/reporting/bddb11df-e2a4-42cf-bfbf-1d7d7d863d27
https://lookerstudio.google.com/reporting/e7455659-996b-474f-bddb-1ff8ad90cd3f
