A newly found asteroid will come very near Earth this week.
Asteroid 2023 BU measures between 12 and 28 toes large (3.8 to eight.5 meters), and was simply found on Saturday (Jan. 21) by astronomer Gennadiy Borisov on the MARGO Observatory in Crimea. When it passes by Earth at its closest on Thursday (Jan. 26) at 4:17 p.m. EST (2117 GMT), the space rock might be inside lower than 3% of the typical Earth-moon distance at an altitude of simply 2,178 miles (3,506 kilometers) above Earth’s floor.
For comparability, most geostationary satellites orbit at an perspective of round 22,200 miles (35,800 km).
Most asteroids aren’t vibrant sufficient to be seen and not using a highly effective telescope; fortunately, you possibly can watch asteroid 2023 BU make its shut encounter with our planet because of the Digital Telescope Venture. Astronomer Gianluca Masi might be internet hosting a free livestream of the asteroid’s cross on the project’s website (opens in new tab) or YouTube channel (opens in new tab) on Thursday (Jan. 26) beginning at 2:15 p.m. EST (1915 GMT).
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The asteroid is presently within the Ursa Major constellation. As a consequence of its small dimension, asteroid 2023 BU is pretty dim at magnitude 19.15, but it surely may be seen by way of a robust telescope operated by a seasoned skywatcher.
Fortunately for these of us who aren’t veteran asteroid chasers, the Digital Telescope Venture will stream the entire thing. “Asteroid 2023 BU can have an especially shut, however protected, encounter with us, coming [within] lower than 10,000 km from the Earth’s heart, about 25% of the geostationary satellites’ distance,” writes Masi on the venture’s website (opens in new tab).
Asteroid 2023 BU is named an Apollo-type asteroid, which suggests its orbit crosses that of Earth however spends most of its time effectively outdoors the trail of our planet, in keeping with the Center for Near Earth Object Studies (opens in new tab), which relies at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. 2023 BU orbits the sun each 425 days and won’t cross near our planet once more till Dec. 6, 2036.
Whereas asteroid 2023 BU will cross extraordinarily near Earth, it isn’t categorized as doubtlessly hazardous. That is as a result of its small dimension means it might probably break up and incinerate in Earth’s atmosphere.
Hoping to catch a glimpse of asteroid 2023 BU? Our guides on the best telescopes and best binoculars would possibly enable you get began on the trail to proper optics. You can even try our guides on the best cameras for astrophotography and best lenses for astrophotography to get began.
Editor’s Notice: Should you handle to catch a photograph of asteroid 2023 BU and want to share it with Area.com’s readers, ship your photograph(s), feedback, and your identify and site to spacephotos@space.com.
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