An asteroid traveling at 53,000 km/h will crash into Earth's atmosphere this week

It was discovered on Saturday, January 21, and is causing a stir in the world of astronomy:

at a speed of

It is estimated that it will travel at approximately 10,500 km/h beyond the center of the Earth, which is

, reports the

.

That is, the asteroid will be within just three percent of the average distance between Earth and the Moon, making it an incredibly close distance, astronomers say. 

Against this calculation, the huge space rock will be the fourth closest to Earth's surface, among Earth's 35,000 past and future meteors and asteroids, according to data compiled by the Center for Near Object Studies. to Earth (CNEOS) from NASA during the 300 years from 1900 to 2200.

Artist's image of an asteroid approaching Earth.

The good news is that -according to the CNEOS data- the space rock only measures between 38 meters long and 85 meters wide, which means it would be a small threat even if it made its way to Earth.

For NASA, space rocks that are less than 25 meters across have a high chance of burning up when they enter Earth's atmosphere, causing little or no damage to the ground.

But beyond the proximity of the asteroid in its entry to Earth, what is ruled out for scientists is that a collision occurs. 

According to

, the asteroid will enter our atmosphere, specifically the exosphere, the outermost layer that extends about 10,500 kilometers. 

The monitoring of the asteroid 2023 BU can be followed on the Web.

According to the Italian agency ANSA, it is indicated that it does not represent any danger, since it is very small.

In fact, it was discovered a few days ago by the engineer and amateur astronomer Gennadiy Borisov, who found it on January 21 from the Margo de Nauchnij observatory (Crimea).

It will be within the orbit of the geostationary satellites that pass over South America, and it will be seen closely on Thursday, January 26, around 10:17 p.m. Spanish time (there is a two-hour margin of error).

It will fly over the planet at a distance less than the distance that separates us from the Moon, in fact it is the fourth closest ever recorded, and it can be seen live on the Internet at virtualtelescope.eu/webtv (you will have to connect to the url on Thursday from 4:15 p.m. Argentina time), reveals the site

.

This website will transmit the passage of the asteroid from the Ceccano observatory, in the province of Frosinone, so it will be a good opportunity to see a celestial body that has been on the lips of all fans for a few days.

In 2018, NASA predicted that a huge asteroid twice the size of Big Ben could crash into Earth within five years, but luckily this hasn't happened yet although estimates say the asteroid, dubbed

, will potentially impact on our planet on August 8, 2023. 

But the chances of this happening are extremely low, as NASA predicts a 99.9999967 percent chance of failure.

Asteroid 2018 LF16 is around 213 meters wide, about twice the size of the Big Ben clock tower in London, or the same size as San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge.

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