Will the 82-foot Asteroid 2023 BU crash into Earth? This is what will happen, NASA reveals | Tech News

Will the 82-foot Asteroid 2023 BU crash into Earth? This is what will happen, NASA reveals

The asteroid 2023 BU is set to make a terrifyingly close approach to the Earth and it has sparked concerns on whether it can strike the planet. Information from NASA sheds light on what is likely to happen.

By: HT TECH
| Updated on: Jan 25 2023, 13:01 IST
Asteroid fun facts in pics: NASA reveals all you need to know
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1/5 Space is full of objects, out of which only a few have been discovered. Asteroids are some of these objects. If you are not aware about the dangerous objects called asteroids, here are some facts you should know. First, did you know that asteroids are sometimes called minor planets? Well, they are. (Pixabay)
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2/5 Differences between an Asteroid, Comet, Meteoroid, Meteor and Meteorite: According to the information provided by NASA, Asteroid is a relatively small, inactive, rocky body orbiting the Sun. Comet is a relatively small, at times active, object whose ice can vaporize in sunlight forming an atmosphere (coma) of dust and gas and, sometimes, a tail of dust and/or gas. Meteoroid is a small particle from a comet or asteroid orbiting the Sun. Meteor is the light phenomena which results when a meteoroid enters the Earth's atmosphere and vaporizes, in short, a shooting star. While, Meteorite is a meteoroid that survives its passage through the Earth's atmosphere and lands upon the Earth's surface. (NASA)
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3/5 Asteroid: Size, frequency and impact- More than 100 tons of dust and sand sized particles are bombarded towards Earth everyday, according to NASA. While, about once a year, an automobile-sized asteroid hits Earth's atmosphere, creates an impressive fireball, and burns up before reaching the surface. Every 2,000 years or so, a meteoroid the size of a football field hits Earth and causes significant damage to the area. Only once every few million years, an object large enough to threaten Earth's civilization comes along. Impact craters on Earth, the moon and other planetary bodies are evidence of these occurrences. Space rocks smaller than about 25 meters (about 82 feet) will most likely burn up as they enter the Earth's atmosphere and cause little or no damage. By comparison, asteroids that populate the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, and pose no threat to Earth, can be as big as 940 kilometers (about 583 miles) across. (NASA)
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4/5 How is an Asteroid Orbit Calculated? An asteroid's orbit is computed by finding the elliptical path about the sun that best fits the available observations of the object. That is, the object's computed path about the sun is adjusted until the predictions of where the asteroid should have appeared in the sky at several observed times match the positions where the object was actually observed to be at those same times. (Pixabay)
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5/5 What is NASA doing to find and learn more about potentially hazardous asteroids and comets? NASA has established a Planetary Defense Coordination Office (PDCO), managed in the Planetary Science Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington, D.C. The PDCO ensures the early detection of potentially hazardous objects (PHOs) - asteroids and comets whose orbits are predicted to bring them within 0.05 Astronomical Units of Earth (5 million miles or 8 million kilometers) and of a size large enough to reach Earth's surface - that is, greater than approximately 30 to 50 meters. NASA tracks and characterizes these objects and issues warnings about potential impacts, providing timely and accurate information. NASA also leads the coordination of U.S. Government planning for response to an actual impact threat. (AFP)
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Know what will happen when the 82-foot asteroid 2023 BU comes as close as 3500 kilometers to Earth. NASA reveals the answer. (Pixabay)

A sneaky asteroid is on its way and it is set to make one of the closest approaches to the Earth. In fact, it will be closer to us than the satellites around the Earth. And that is absolutely terrifying as it increases the chance of an asteroid strike exponentially as our planet's gravitational force may pull it in . The question also arises exactly what kind of damage can an 82-feet wide asteroid do to the planet. Luckily for us, NASA information tells us exactly what will happen if this asteroid were to be dragged towards the Earth for an impact.

According to the data from NASA Center for Near Earth Object Studies (CNEOS), the asteroid will make its closest approach to our planet at 2:47 AM IST on January 27. At that point, 2023 BU will be flying at the speed of 53591 kilometers per hour at a distance of 3500 kilometers above the sea level. This will be the fourth nearest flyby of an asteroid in more than 35000 past and future asteroid close approaches in the CNEOS database, which covers a period of 300 years from 1900 to 2200. This is an extremely rare scenario.

Will the asteroid 2023 BU hit the Earth

And due to these circumstances, there is a fear that this asteroid might crash onto the planet. Astonishingly, the asteroid itself was discovered just last Saturday, January 21 and ever since then, scientists have been calculating its likely trajectory. Astronomers have calculated that a chance for a collision are not that high in this instance and the asteroid will most likely fly away without harming the planet.

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But even if it were to strike the planet due to a last moment deviation from its path, NASA believes it will still not be a big concern. NASA website says, “Space rocks smaller than about 25 meters (about 82 feet) will most likely burn up as they enter the Earth's atmosphere and cause little or no damage”.

A similar event was observed in 2013, when an asteroid exploded over the city of Chelyabinsk, Russia. It exploded high up in the sky with only damage to the city being broken window glasses due to the sonic boom. Many people got injured in this, but none from the direct explosion of the asteroid.

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First Published Date: 25 Jan, 12:59 IST
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