United Nations truck-sized asteroid spent Thursday near the Land without causing danger, in one of the closest approaches ever recorded, information space scientists.
the asteroid 2023 burecently discovered by an amateur astronomer, passed through the southern tip of South America around 4:29 p.m. (US West Coast Time, 0029 GMT on Friday), according to the US space agency NASA.
At its closest, the rock came just 2,200 miles (3,600 kilometers) of the earth’s surfacemuch closer than most geostationary satellites that orbit the planet.
discovered on saturday
The rock was discovered on Saturday from a observatory in Crimea by the amateur astronomer Gennadi Borisov, who had already detected an interesting comet in 2019.
Then dozens of sightings were made at observatories around the world, and the NASA’s Scout impact risk assessment system quickly ruled out an asteroid impact on Earth, Said the space agency.
Despite making few observations, Scout was able to predict that the asteroid would «come extraordinarily close to Earth,» said Davide Farnocchia, who helped develop the Scout system.
very close approach
«In fact, this is one of the closest known approaches of an object to Earth ever recorded,» he added.
But even if the calculations had been wrong, humanity would have been safe, according to scientists.
With a length of only 3.5 to 8.5 meters, 2023 BU is too small to deal significant damage and It would have caught fire upon entering the atmosphere.
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The few meteorites that have made it to land are small, not like the huge blocks that destroy cities and cause tsunamis in the movies.
Its approach to Earth will have a more lasting impact on the asteroid, according to NASA mathematicians. Earth’s gravity will extend the time it takes for the asteroid to complete its orbit around the Sun, from 359 days in the past to 425 days, according to NASA.
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