Thursday, January 26, 2023

Duck!

 

From NASA, news of a truck-sized asteroid approaching Earth:

On Thursday, Jan. 26, a small near-Earth asteroid will have a very close encounter with our planet. Designated 2023 BU, the asteroid will zoom over the southern tip of South America at about 4:27 p.m. PST (7:27 p.m. EST) only 2,200 miles (3,600 kilometers) above the planet’s surface and well within the orbit of geosynchronous satellites. (our emphasis)

"Small." Guess it's all relative.

Here's what that close encounter looks like -- the red line representing the asteroid, the green line the orbit of geosynchronous satellites (click to enlarge):


Not to worry, though:

There is no risk of the asteroid impacting Earth. But even if it did, this small asteroid – estimated to be 11.5 to 28 feet (3.5 to 8.5 meters) across – would turn into a fireball and largely disintegrate harmlessly in the atmosphere, with some of the bigger debris potentially falling as small meteorites.

At the link, there's a fully interactive "Eyes on Asteroids" that "uses science data to help visualize asteroid and comet orbits around the Sun."  

Ah, science.  (But don't forget to duck anyway.)

 

No comments: