%20(1).png)
An asteroid will pass 'extraordinarily close' to Earth. WASHINGTON: A truck-sized asteroid will pass close to Earth on Thursday, making one of the closest approaches to our planet ever recorded, according to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), but it poses no threat.
According to NASA, asteroid 2023 BU, which was recently discovered by an amateur astronomer, will pass near the southern tip of South America on Thursday at around 4:27 p.m. PST.
It will pass just 2,200 miles (3,600 kilometres) above Earth's surface, which is much closer than many geostationary satellites do.
However, according to NASA, there is no danger of the asteroid colliding with Earth.
Even if it did, the asteroid, which measures 3.5-8.5 metres (11-28 feet) across, would likely disintegrate in the Earth's atmosphere, leaving only a few small meteorites.
Gennadiy Borisov, an amateur astronomer who previously discovered an interstellar comet in 2019, discovered it on Saturday from a Crimean observatory.
Observatories all over the world then conducted dozens of observations.
NASA's Scout impact hazard assessment system determined quickly that the asteroid would miss Earth, according to the US space agency.
"Despite the few observations, it was able to predict that the asteroid would make an extraordinarily close approach to Earth," said NASA's Davide Farnocchia, who worked on Scout.
"In fact, this is one of the closest approaches ever recorded by a known near-Earth object."
The asteroid will pass so close to the Sun that its orbit will be significantly altered.
It used to take the asteroid 359 days to complete its orbit around the Sun, but after this close encounter with Earth, NASA estimates it will now take 425 days.
