Asteroid 2023 BU's close approach is something to watch out for, according to NASA. TONIGHT
According to NASA, an asteroid scheduled to fly by Earth tonight will likely make one of the closest encounters by a near-Earth object ever recorded.
Scientists claim there is little chance that asteroid 2023 BU will collide with Earth during its projected passage over the southern point of South America.
Gennadiy Borisov, an amateur astronomer, made the discovery. The amateur scientist made more space debris discoveries from his observatory in Nauchnyi, Crimea, including the interstellar comet 21/Borisov.
Using information received from all over the world, NASA was able to foresee the near-miss using its Scout impact hazard assessment system.
"Scout rapidly ruled out 2023 BU as an impactor, but despite the extremely few observations, it was still able to anticipate that the asteroid would make an extraordinarily close approach with Earth," said Davide Farnocchia, a navigation engineer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
In fact, this is one of the known near-Earth object's closest encounters to Earth ever recorded, the author continued.
What are the details of asteroid 2023 BU?
The estimated size of the asteroid, which will make one of the closest near-Earth object encounters ever recorded, ranges from 11.5 to 28 feet (around 3.5 to 8.5 metres).
The asteroid is so small that even if it were to strike Earth, it would dissolve harmlessly into the atmosphere, with some of the smaller pieces falling to the ground as tiny meteorites.
When will the asteroid 2023 BU approach Earth?
The asteroid is expected to approach tonight (January 26) at midnight, which means it will veer off into the early hours of January 27.How to view asteroids 2023 BU approach Earth from the UK
Robotic telescopes will reportedly be used to stream the asteroid live.
On January 26, starting at 7:15 p.m. UTC, the Virtual Telescope Project will stream the asteroid live from its website and YouTube channel.
