The newly discovered asteroid flies closer to Earth than the Moon.

As you read this, an asteroid the size of a house is approaching Earth, but there is no need for alarm. Depending on your location, the freshly found asteroid 2023 EY will fly by our planet late Thursday or early Friday. It will pass past at a distance of around 240,000 kilometers (149,000 miles), which is about two-thirds of the distance between Earth and the Moon.

Despite the fact that the asteroid 2023 EY will fly by Earth at nearly two-thirds the distance of the Moon, which may appear uncomfortably close, there is no need for alarm because the asteroid, which measures only 16 meters (52 feet) in diameter, presents no harm to humankind. Unlike the Chelyabinsk meteor, which caused casualties when it burst above Russia in 2013, the 2023 EY will not even penetrate our atmosphere. Its closeness, on the other hand, provides an intriguing opportunity to examine it through telescopes. While the asteroid’s pass will not be visible to the human eye, the Virtual Telescope Project will live broadcast it is beginning at 00:00 UTC on Friday, March 17.A 17-inch robotic telescope at Ceccano, central Italy, will capture the film, with the closest approach planned at 00:35 UTC on the same day. The live stream is embedded below.

It’s worth noting that the asteroid 2023 EY was found only on Monday, March 13, due to the ATLAS (Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Late Alert System) network. The asteroid was discovered by the ATLAS network’s Sutherland Observation Station in South Africa. ATLAS, which was founded by the University of Hawaii and is financed by NASA, intends to offer early warning for probable asteroid impacts through the use of telescopes in Hawaii, Chile, and South Africa. Given the recent success of the DART mission, which revealed that asteroids may be deflected off their path using rockets, advanced warning systems such as ATLAS will become increasingly important. The Apollo NEO (near-Earth object) 2023 EY is the biggest known group of NEOs, with 17,540 Apollo asteroids identified as of February 2023.

The position of 2023 EY at 00:00 UTC on Thursday, March 16. (NASA)

The Apollo asteroids are a class of near-Earth objects that cross Earth’s orbit and have orbits bigger than Earth’s around the Sun. They are named after the asteroid 1862 Apollo, which was discovered in the 1930s by Karl Reinmuth. There are over 17,540 Apollo asteroids known, with almost 2,000 of them classified as potentially dangerous asteroids, which are objects bigger than roughly 150 meters in size that might come within 7.5 million kilometers (4.6 million miles) of Earth. Despite the fact that 2023 EY is not in this size range, it is nevertheless featured in NASA’s Asteroid Watch Dashboard due to its vicinity.

Thus, there is no reason to be concerned. Instead, watch a live video of a huge space rock getting close enough to wave at as it continues its lengthy trip around the Sun.

As you read this, an asteroid the size of a house is approaching Earth, but there is no need for alarm. Depending on your location, the freshly found asteroid 2023 EY will fly by our planet late Thursday or early Friday. It will pass past at a distance of around 240,000 kilometers (149,000 miles), which is about two-thirds of the distance between Earth and the Moon.

Despite the fact that the asteroid 2023 EY will fly by Earth at nearly two-thirds the distance of the Moon, which may appear uncomfortably close, there is no need for alarm because the asteroid, which measures only 16 meters (52 feet) in diameter, presents no harm to humankind. Unlike the Chelyabinsk meteor, which caused casualties when it burst above Russia in 2013, the 2023 EY will not even penetrate our atmosphere. Nonetheless, its closeness provides an intriguing chance to see it using telescopes. While it will not be visible to the human eye, the Virtual Telescope Project will live broadcast the asteroid’s flyby beginning at 00:00 UTC on Friday, March 17. The film will be taken by a 17-inch robotic telescope at Ceccano, central Italy, with the closest approach planned at 00:35 UTC on the same day. The live feed may be seen below.

It’s worth noting that the asteroid 2023 EY was found only on Monday, March 13, due to the ATLAS (Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Late Alert System) network. The asteroid was discovered by the ATLAS network’s Sutherland Observation Station in South Africa. ATLAS, which was founded by the University of Hawaii and is financed by NASA, intends to offer early warning for probable asteroid impacts through the use of telescopes in Hawaii, Chile, and South Africa. Given the recent success of the DART mission, which revealed that asteroids may be deflected off their path using rockets, advanced warning systems such as ATLAS will become increasingly important. The Apollo NEO (near-Earth object) 2023 EY is the biggest known group of NEOs, with 17,540 Apollo asteroids identified as of February 2023.

The position of 2023 EY at 00:00 UTC on Thursday, March 16. (NASA)

The Apollo asteroids are a class of near-Earth objects that cross Earth’s orbit and have orbits bigger than Earth’s around the Sun. They are named after the asteroid 1862 Apollo, which was discovered in the 1930s by Karl Reinmuth. There are over 17,540 Apollo asteroids known, with almost 2,000 of them classified as potentially dangerous asteroids, which are objects bigger than roughly 150 meters in size that might come within 7.5 million kilometers (4.6 million miles) of Earth. Despite the fact that 2023 EY is not in this size range, it is nevertheless featured in NASA’s Asteroid Watch Dashboard due to its vicinity.

Thus, there is no reason to be concerned. Instead, watch a live video of a huge space rock getting close enough to wave at as it continues its lengthy trip around the Sun.

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