A space rock the size of a truck passed within about 3,500 km of Earth on Thursday, January 26 at 7:27 PM ET. The asteroid passed over the southern tip of South America in “one of the closest sightings to Earth ever recorded “, explained David Paranuccia, a navigation engineer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
The asteroid, called 2023 BU, was only recently discovered, with scientists unaware of its existence until amateur astronomer Gennady Borisov of Crimea spotted it on January 21. Several other comets and asteroids have been credited to it, including the first interstellar comet in 2019 called 2I/Borisov. Within three days, dozens of observations from around the world helped determine the space rock’s trajectory, highlighting the importance of veteran astronomers and amateurs alike around the world.
An asteroid passed “closest ever” to Earth (photo: NASA)
NASA’s hazard control system determined that the object would not impact Earth, and even if it did, the estimated three-and-a-half to eight-and-a-half-foot-wide asteroid would have disintegrated in the atmosphere, according to the agency. Still, many asteroids that have yet to be discovered could cause For significant damage to the Earth, according to Don Polkau, an astronomer from the University of Warwick in England, to the BBC news.
An asteroid approaching the Earth, illustration (Photo: Reuters)
While BU 2023’s approach to Earth was unusual, smaller objects pass by quite frequently, according to the Times. “This case may seem unusual but in fact, objects of similar size come this close to Earth about once a year on average,” Francois said. “So this is not an unusual event but something that happens regularly.”