2023 BU will pass very close to Earth. (Photo: Getty Images)

While we have yet to conjure up the Armageddon occupation, an asteroid flying close to Earth is understandably big news.

NASA has announced that this is exactly what will happen later today when an asteroid flies within 3,500 km of the Earth’s surface.

During the event, the asteroid, dubbed “2023 BU,” will be the fourth closest space rock to pass near the planet, having first been observed on January 21 this year.

In 2021, NASA and SpaceX conducted a joint mission to alter an asteroid’s course, essentially crashing a satellite into its side.

So is it possible for those who lift their eyes to heaven to see the event take place?

Here’s what you need to know.

View asteroid 2023 BU

This map from NASA shows the approximate orbit of asteroid 2023 BU in red, influenced by Earth’s gravity, and the orbit of geostationary satellites in green. (Photo: AP/NASA/JPL Caltech)

According to Sky News, the asteroid pass is being streamed live using robotic telescopes.

The Virtual Telescope project will broadcast the asteroid pass live tonight from 7:15 p.m.

You can find the stream through the project’s website or YouTube channel.

The VTP is operated by the Bellatrix Astronomical Observatory in Italy.

When will asteroid 2023 BU pass Earth?

The space event will take place just after midnight tonight (meaning it will roam until January 27).

It is worth noting that this is not a cause for concern. 2023 BU is between 3.8 and 8.4 meters, meaning it would burn up upon entering Earth’s atmosphere. In fact, any asteroid smaller than 25 meters will almost certainly meet the same fate.

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However, this asteroid passes extremely close – most of the satellites orbit the Earth at about 35,000 km altitude, while 2023 BU will pass only 3,500 km above the Earth’s surface.

How do you learn about asteroid passages?

NASA hosts an “Asteroid Watch” dashboard on its website, which currently lists five upcoming space events.

Its dashboard says it “shows the closest five approaches to Earth to within 4.6 million miles (7.5 million kilometers or 19.5 times the distance to the Moon); An object that is larger than about 150 meters and can approach Earth at that distance is called a potentially dangerous object.’

“The average distance between the Earth and the Moon is about 385,000 kilometers.”

The dashboard shows two of the asteroids, which are about the size of a car and three the size of an airplane.