The asteroid 2023 BU, which is now traveling toward Earth and will pass incredibly near to it on January 26, was only recently spotted by scientists.

It will be an  amazing view and the chance to see a cosmic rock pass by considerably closer than the geostationary satellites that are now in orbit.

Using the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory, astronomer Gennadiy Borisov found the asteroid 2023 BU on January 21. Since the analysis of the body’s orbit indicated a near encounter with Earth, experts have been keeping a tight check on it.

The tiny body is just 3.8 to 8.4 meters in size, which implies that if it interacts with the atmosphere, it will ultimately split into a thousand fragments that will later be burned by friction.

Asteroids are moving at a rate of 9.26 kilometers per second, according to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory Center for the Study of Near-Earth Objects. Asteroid 2023 BU is one such object. However, the fact that the cosmic object will fly by Earth at a distance of fewer than 10,000 kilometers—roughly 25% closer than geostationary satellites put into orbit by humans—is what truly grabs people’s attention.

Asteroid 2023 BU is not thought to be potentially harmful because of its modest size, according to NASA, despite the fact that it is quite near to Earth. There is no threat to life on Earth since if it were to contact with the atmosphere, it would be responsible for pulverizing it.

Asteroids are space rocks that are locked in the gravitational field of the Sun like planets. Despite being considerably smaller than planets, asteroids have defined orbits that sometimes intersect Earth. The asteroid 2023 BU has a 425-day orbit around the main star of the Solar System and won’t come close to Earth again until December 6, 2036, according to the Center for Near-Earth Object Studies.

Finding the asteroid 2023 BU

Asteroids are often not particularly bright objects to be seen with the naked eye, in contrast to comets, which get brighter as they go closer to the Sun and have a dazzling tail. Even though asteroid 2023 BU will pass near to Earth and its artificial geostationary satellites on January 26, it won’t be seen without a telescope since it will only be 19.15 magnitude at that distance.

However, individuals who aren’t seasoned asteroid hunters always have choices. The passing of asteroid 2023 BU will be webcast by the Virtual Telescope Project, situated in Italy, on January 26. The Virtual Telescope Project will aim straight at the near-Earth asteroid via a live video on its official YouTube account. The live stream will start at 1:15 p.m. Central Mexico time.