Truck-sized asteroid to make incredibly close approach to Earth. Here’s how to livestream
An asteroid about the size of a truck will pass incredibly close to Earth on Thursday, swinging around the planet closer than some satellites and the moon orbit our planet.
Asteroid 2023 BU, discovered on Saturday by an amateur astronomer, will come as close as 2,200 miles (3,600 kilometers) to Earth, swinging around South America’s southern tip before jetting back into space.
It’ll be one of the closest ever approaches by a near-Earth object ever recorded, according to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab.
For reference to Asteroid 2023 BU’s closeness, the average distance between the Earth and the moon is 238,855 miles. That means the distance between the Earth and the asteroid covers approximately 1% of the distance between the Earth and the moon.
Alternatively, the distance between the asteroid and Earth equals a flight from Seattle to Atlanta.
But there’s no need to worry. According to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab, there is no threat of the asteroid hitting Earth. And if it did come too close for comfort, because it’s such a small asteroid, it would turn into a fireball and disintegrate in the Earth’s atmosphere.
How to watch Asteroid 2023 BU
Asteroid 2023 BU will come closest to Earth on Thursday at 2:17 p.m. MT/ 1:17 p.m. PT, according to Space.com. The next time it’ll pass this close to Earth will be Dec. 6, 2036.
Unfortunately, due to the asteroid’s small size, it won’t be visible to the naked eye. In fact, despite the asteroid’s closeness, a powerful telescope is still needed to see it at all.
But there is still a way to watch it.
Astronomer Gianluca Masi will live stream the asteroid pass on the Virtual Telescope Project’s website and YouTube channel. The live stream will begin at 12:15 p.m. MT/ 11:15 a.m. PT.
This story was originally published January 26, 2023 at 10:40 AM with the headline "Truck-sized asteroid to make incredibly close approach to Earth. Here’s how to livestream."
