image source, Getty Images
Statistics show that humans have discovered only 40% of these planets.
A giant asteroid has already passed the Earth. After many days of concern
An asteroid the size of a minibus Called 2023 BU, it crossed the southern tip of South America at 7:30 am local time in Thailand.
The asteroid passed by Earth at a distance of 3,600 km, which is very close.
This event reflects that There are many large asteroids. that is still hidden and hidden near the world And astronomers haven’t discovered them yet.
Asteroid 2023 BU was discovered by amateur astronomer Gennady Borisov in deep space in the Crimean peninsula. which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014
The more you explore and observe this asteroid The more astronomers know regarding this asteroid, both its size and orbit.
The results of a detailed examination make astronomers confident An asteroid will definitely not hit the Earth.
However, it was flying closer to Earth than the orbit of a telecommunication satellite. by satellite for telecommunication It will be regarding 36,000 kilometers from Earth.
The chance that an asteroid will hit the satellite is very small.
The time when the asteroid is closest to Earth is 7.27 am in Thailand time.
And even if the asteroid 2023 BU has a direct trajectory to Earth I believe that the damage to the world will not be much.
This asteroid has a size of 3.5 -8.5 meters, which when entering the Earth’s atmosphere Asteroids will experience enormous heat. until disintegrating in the atmosphere All that remained was a small fireball. Dashing through the sky only for us to see
image source, NASA
This asteroid is closer to Earth than a satellite.
If compared Chelyabinsk meteorite That entered the Earth’s atmosphere in the southern region of Russia in 2013 will be even larger. Because the size is almost 20 meters ever. making its entry into the Earth’s atmosphere cause a shock wave breaking glass
Scientists from the Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) said that the orbit around the sun of the asteroid 2023 BU has changed its path. from rushing close to the world Because the gravity of the Earth pulls the asteroid closer. and has changed its course in space
“When it comes close to the world The original asteroid’s orbit around the sun was almost circular. And it’s close to Earth’s orbit around the sun, which takes 359 days to orbit the sun,” NASA said in a statement.
“To come close to the world This causes the asteroid’s orbit to stretch. About half the distance between Earth’s orbits. and the orbit of Mars… Now the asteroid will revolve around the sun for 425 days.”
Now scientists and astronomy Try harder to find larger asteroids. And can be dangerous to the world like asteroids A gigantic “monster” up to 12 kilometers wide that once crashed into the earth and caused the extinction of the dinosaurs.
However, all these very giant asteroids have been discovered. So the anxiety is gone to a certain extent. But asteroids smaller than 150 meters still have holes that we haven’t yet found.
Statistics show that humans have discovered only 40% of these planets.
planet size only still enough to deal damage Can destroy a city if it crashes into the world.
Professor Don Pollacko from the University of Warwick United Kingdom told the BBC that “There are still many asteroids. that may pass through Earth’s orbit that is still waiting for us to find out.”
“Humans recently discovered the asteroid 2023 BU, the size of a minibus. even though it must have crossed the world thousands of times This time it came within 3,600 kilometers of Earth, or regarding 1% of the distance between the Earth and the Moon. It can be considered that it is close to the world.
“There are still many asteroids that humans have not yet discovered. and may have the potential to penetrate the Earth’s atmosphere Before hitting the earth until it can cause enormous damage… scientists believe We might face such a situation someday.”