Watch an SUV-sized asteroid zoom past Earth in a flyby
Asteroid 2023 BU brushed past Earth Thursday evening (Jan. 26) to the delight of amateur astronomers around the world. Fortunately, for skywatchers without access to a telescope or those who had their view obscured by bad weather, the Italy-based Virtual Telescope Project was there to observe the event and livestream it completely free of charge.
The Virtual Telescope is a robotic telescope operated by Italian amateur astronomer Gianluca Masi near Rome, Italy. If 2023 BU stormed to Soilthe telescope was able to track the rock through a hole in the clouds when it was about 14,000 miles (22,000 kilometers) from the nearest point on the Earth’s surface (about the height of the GPS navigation satellite constellation) and 22,990 miles (37,000 km) from the virtual telescope.
However, Masi, who shared an hours-long webcast of the observations on the Virtual Telescope website, was unable to capture the closest approach as the clouds rolled in. Nevertheless, the Virtual Telescope Project was able to get a good look at the car-sized rock, as seen above in time-lapse.
The rock, discovered less than a week ago on Saturday (Jan. 21), passed over the southern tip of South America at a distance of just 2,240 miles (2,240 miles) on Thursday, Jan. 26 at 7:27 p.m. EST (0027 GMT on Jan. 27). 3,600 km) at the point closest to the Earth’s surface.
This close approximation makes BU 2023 the fourth closest asteroid ever observed from Earth, with the exception of five space rocks that were detected before they dove in the Earth’s atmosphere.
Only 11.5 to 28 feet wide (3.5 to 8.5 meters), 2023 BU posed no threat to the planet. If the orbits of the two bodies had crossed, the asteroid would have mostly burned up in the atmosphere, with only small fragments possibly falling to the ground. meteorites.
In the videos and images shared by Masi, the asteroid is seen as a small bright dot in the center of the frame, while the longer, brighter lines are the surrounding stars. In reality, of course, it was the asteroid that was moving relative to Earth, traveling at 21,000 mph (33,800 km/h) relative to Earth. As Masi’s computer-controlled telescope tracked its position, the rock appeared to be stationary in the images as the stars appeared as these moving streaks.
The gravitational kick that 2023 BU received during its encounter with Earth will shape its orbit around the sun. Previously, the space rock followed a fairly circular orbit, completing one orbit around the sun in 359 days. As of now, BU 2023 is traveling through the inner solar system on a more elliptical path, halfway to Mars at the furthest point of its orbit. This change adds 66 days to the orbital period of BU 2023.
The asteroid was discovered by famed Crimean-based astronomer and astrophotographer Gennadiy Borisov, the same man who found the first interstellar comet in 2018, which now bears his name. Borisov.
Follow Tereza Pultarova on Twitter @TerezaPultarova. follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and further Facebook.
#Watch #SUVsized #asteroid #zoom #Earth #flyby