The asteroid was discovered by an amateur astronomer on the Crimean Peninsula
Vilma Romsi,
Veikko Eromäki
A small asteroid will pass Earth at close range on Thursday, the US space agency Nasa informs (you will switch to another service). According to a NASA expert, this is one of the closest Earth passes of all time, which has been observed in the history of observing celestial bodies.
The asteroid named 2023 BU will pass the southern tip of South America only about 3,600 kilometers from the Earth’s surface. Its length is estimated to be 3.5–8.5 meters.
According to Nasa, there is no risk of collision. However, the space agency says that even if this asteroid were to hurtle straight toward Earth, it would turn into a fireball upon entering the atmosphere and, for the most part, disintegrate harmlessly. Small meteorites could therefore fall to the ground.
The asteroid flies through an orbit in which so-called geosynchronous satellites operate. These orbit the Earth at approximately the speed of the Earth’s rotation. Many communications satellites, for example, orbit in geosynchronous orbit.
According to NASA, the 2023 BU asteroid was first spotted on Saturday the 21st by an amateur astronomer Gennady Borisov from his own observatory on the Russian-occupied Crimean peninsula.