A small asteroid is coming very close to Earth, Putin’s “master of intrigue” reports.

An asteroid will pass exceptionally close to Earth on Friday night. The celestial body dubbed “2023 BU” reached its closest point on its orbit Friday at 01:27 Swiss time, according to the US space agency Nasa. Then the asteroid, about the size of a van, hurtles past the southern tip of South America at an altitude of only 3,600 kilometers.

According to NASA, there is no risk of impact. In comparison, geostationary satellites are located about 35,000 kilometers from Earth, the ISS space station about 400 kilometers.

Even if “2023 BU” went straight to Earth, at its relatively small diameter of 3.5 to 8.5 meters, it would largely burn up like a fireball when it entered the atmosphere, according to NASA. In all likelihood, however, it will be one of the closest approaches to Earth ever recorded, the statement said.

The amateur astronomer Gennady Borissow discovered the celestial body a few days ago at the Margo Observatory in Crimea. Borissov made a name for himself in 2019 when he used a homemade telescope to discover a comet crossing our solar system on its journey from deep space. Comet 2I/Borisov attracted worldwide interest from astronomers at the time, who confirmed his observations.

threat ruled out

International observatories also immediately turned to Borisov’s latest discovery to determine the orbit of “2023 BU” and thus potential risks to Earth. A threat from the asteroid could then be quickly ruled out, as NASA scientist Davide Farnocchia explained.

Researchers have identified about 27,000 near-Earth asteroids, of which about 10,000 are more than 140 meters in diameter. None are known to crash directly into our planet in the near future.

Last October, NASA succeeded for the first time in changing the direction of an asteroid’s motion through the impact of a probe. The background of the experiment is the question of how the earth can be protected against approaching celestial bodies. An asteroid impact about 66 million years ago is the leading theory among scientists as to why the dinosaurs went extinct. (aeg/sda/dpa)