An asteroid hurtling through space at 33,300 miles per hour will narrowly miss Earth as it passes the planet this week.
Named 2023 BU, the space stone is set to bypass our home world at about 12.30am on Friday morning. Those hoping for a closer look can catch the asteroid whizzing past on a livestream thanks to robotic, remote controlled telescopes.
According data collected by Nasa's Centre for Near Earth Object Studies (CNEOS), it will be the fourth-nearest out of 35,000 Earth approaches in 300 years from 1900 to 2200, reports Wales Online.
The live feed is due to start on Thursday at 7.15pm, UK time, and is made possible thanks to the Virtual Telescope Project (VTP) operating out of the Bellatrix Astronomical Observatory in Ceccano, Italy.
The asteroid was first detected this past weekend, but astronomers have confirmed that it will not collide with Earth. 2023 BU is predicted to pass Earth at an approximate altitude of 2,500 miles above ground which - in astronomical terms - represents a tiny distance.
To put it into context, the approach is so close that it is less than three per cent of the average distance between Earth and the moon. CNEOS data repots that the space rock only measures between 12.4ft and 27.8ft across, so even if it was heading for us, it would be of little threat.
NASA states that asteroids smaller than 82 feet (25 metres) across will most likely burn up when they enter Earth's atmosphere, leading to little or no damage on the ground.
You can access the livestream here.
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