The just-discovered near-Earth asteroid 2023 BU (about five meters in size) will sweep extremely close to Earth on January 26, 2023. It’ll pass less than 3% of the moon’s average distance, and one-fourth (25%) of the distance of geostationary satellites. Details here on a live public observing event.
Watch an asteroid close encounter with Earth
On January 26, 2023, the near-Earth Asteroid 2023 BU will have an extremely close, but safe, encounter with Earth. It’ll pass less than 6,200 miles (10,000 km) from the Earth’s center, and be within the distance of about one-quarter of the geostationary satellites orbiting the Earth. The Virtual Telescope Project will show it to you live!
JPL Close-Approach Viewer (2023-01-26 21:17 UT, (2023 BU) Geocentric distance: 9875 km (0.03 LD),Velocity relative to Earth: 9.33 km/s. Drop lines every 60 min) #CloseApproach #asteroid #2023BU https://t.co/st8bQEyBsH pic.twitter.com/aZkPD1hSTd
— Steven M. Tilley (@StevearenoBR) January 22, 2023
Watch the asteroid close encounter live
The Virtual Telescope Project will show it live, online, just around the flyby time. So you can watch it from the comfort of your home.
The live feed will start on January 26, 2023, at 19:15 UTC.
To join, you just need to go to our website, at the date and time above, and enter our webTV page here!
Asteroid 2023 BU discovered on Saturday
G. Borisov discovered the near-Earth asteroid 2023 BU on January 21, 2023. It’s believed to have a diameter between 12 to 28 feet (3.7 – 8.2 meters). Its minimum distance from Earth will be on January 26, 2023, at 21:17 UTC, when the asteroid will be less than 6,200 miles (10,000 km) from the center of the Earth. That is also within the distance of one-quarter of Earth’s geostationary satellites, and less than three percent of the average distance between the Earth and the moon. Also, asteroid 2023 BU will fly just 2,174 miles (3,500 km) above the Earth’s surface.
Congratulations to Gennadiy Borisov for his discovery of the #asteroid #2023BU (3.7 m – 8.2 m). 2023 BU will have a #CloseApproach with Earth on 2023-Jan-26 2023-Jan-26 21:17(TDB) ± 02:22 of 1.53 to 1.55 earth radii pic.twitter.com/RiZPw7KsAq
— Steven M. Tilley (@StevearenoBR) January 22, 2023
Bottom line: A small asteroid – 2023 BU – will come very close to Earth on January 26, 2023. It’ll pass safely 2,174 miles (3,500 kilometers) away from Earth. Details here.
The post Asteroid close encounter on Thursday: How to watch online first appeared on EarthSky.
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