Close Asteroid Encounter

Wednesday, January 25, 2023

A newly discovered asteroid will come very close to Earth this week

Posted by TrueBlue at 06:31 PM | 11 COMMENTS | permalink | Comment on This Entry |

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Asteroid 2023 BU measures between 12 and 28 feet wide (3.8 to 8.5 meters), and was just discovered on Saturday (Jan. 21) by astronomer Gennadiy Borisov at the MARGO Observatory in Crimea. When it passes by Earth at its closest on Thursday (Jan. 26) at 4:17 p.m. EST (2117 GMT), the space rock will be within less than 3% of the average Earth-moon distance at an altitude of just 2,178 miles (3,506 kilometers) above Earth's surface.

For comparison, most geostationary satellites orbit at an attitude of around 22,200 miles (35,800 km).

#1 | Posted by TrueBlue at 2023-01-24 02:10 PM | Reply

What a frightening thought. I always felt astronomy was interesting but a little scary. I remember going to a local observatory up on a large hill in Pittsburgh and looking at planets and stars. Our physics teacher in college would take us to see whatever we could see. Not something that made me feel secure in the knowledge that nothing would hit the Earth. And this makes me even more worried as to how close it will come to Earth.

#2 | Posted by keystone at 2023-01-24 06:16 PM | Reply

Hey, stick around for 4 billion years when the Sun expands and swallows Earth. Good times.

#3 | Posted by LegallyYourDead at 2023-01-24 08:30 PM | Reply

Nothing lasts forever. It is Nature's Law.

#4 | Posted by wolfdog at 2023-01-25 09:37 PM | Reply

Especially murderous war-mongering midgets like Poopin' His Pants. Amirite?

#5 | Posted by LegallyYourDead at 2023-01-25 10:09 PM | Reply | Newsworthy 1

Nothing lasts forever. It is Nature's Law.
#4 | POSTED BY WOLFDOG

More like the concept of entropy within the second law of thermodynamics, no?

I mean, you're not wrong.

#6 | Posted by rstybeach11 at 2023-01-26 12:10 AM | Reply

#3 Legally...

won't have to wait that long.
mankind will be lucky to be around in 400 years, let
alone 4 billion. Four hundred more years of the
earth ticking upwards one third of a degree farenheit,
400 more years of plastic in our oceans, in our soil,
in the air...400 more years of mountains of unrecycled
garbage, of habitat loss, etc...etc...

pfft... We'll be lucky to last that long (400 years)
at the rate we are going.

#7 | Posted by earthmuse at 2023-01-26 06:27 AM | Reply

Adapt. Improvise. Overcome.

#8 | Posted by LegallyYourDead at 2023-01-26 12:27 PM | Reply

If an asteroid were to wipe out human life on Earth, in the long run would that be a bad thing for life in general on this planet over the long terms? It would be a new age of biologic rebirth and evolution. New life forms and eco-environments. Fifty million years from now that might seem like a good deal. At this rate it doesn't seem highly likely that humanity is going to be around that much longer anyway.

#9 | Posted by moder8 at 2023-01-26 12:55 PM | Reply

More like the concept of entropy within the second law of thermodynamics, no?

The Universe thrives towards chaos :)

#10 | Posted by YAV at 2023-01-26 01:06 PM | Reply

Agreed Legally...#8, however, whomever originally
came up with that expression likely failed to
account for the obstinancy and irrational thought
processes of corrupt politicians...

#11 | Posted by earthmuse at 2023-01-27 01:11 AM | Reply