An asteroid as big as a truck came close to our good old Earth, passing 3600 km from its surface. Called 2023 BU, the celestial object was spotted by astronomer Gianluca Masi who managed to immortalize part of its furious race.
The press headlines have flourished for a few days to announce the imminent passage of an asteroid not far from our planet. The size of a truck, the 2023 BU object was unearthed by an amateur astronomer named Gennady Borissov, perched in the MARGO observatory in Crimea. The asteroid, which measures between 3.8 and 8.5 meters in diameter, finally made a remarkable appearance overnight from Thursday to Friday.
As a reminder, most asteroids are not bright enough to be seen without a powerful telescope. But to the delight of astronomy fans, it was possible to witness the mad dash of asteroid 2023 BU thanks to the Virtual Telescope Project (VTP). Astronomer Gianluca Masi hosted a free live stream of the asteroid’s passage. The opportunity to admire the near-Earth object in full swing. Look :
How far from Earth did asteroid 2023 BU pass?
“At one point the sky improved and, although it was far from decent, we were able to spot and track this asteroid, sharing the experience in real time with a very large international audience” welcomes the astronomer on the VTP site. The images used to create the timelapse were captured when 2023 BU was approximately 22,000 km above our planet.
At its closest course, the asteroid approached 3600 km from the Earth’s surface. Either one of the closest approaches ever made by a near-Earth object. For comparison, most geostationary satellites orbit at an altitude of around 35,800 km. Fortunately, the celestial object did not mistreat them. And NASA had already assured that it was not going to hit the Earth.
If so, it would have broken down anyway during its passage through our atmosphere. Therefore, only a few debris would have fallen down here. For the most curious, this site reveals what would happen if an asteroid crashed into your home.
