First we had asteroid 2017 AG13 on 9th January, then there was asteroid 2017 BX a few weeks later. The third instalment was smaller asteroid 2017 BH30 that passed the Earth six times closer than that of the Moon distance. All three of these asteroids were discovered only days before their closest approach to the Earth. Now a fourth, designated 2017 BS32 was discovered by PanSTARRS on 30th January and will make its closest approach at 20:23 GMT (3:23 PM EST) on February 2nd. Asteroid BS32 will be 100,214 miles from the Earth which is 60% closer than the Moon.
Undoubtedly the high frequency of these close-to-Earth asteroids in such a short time frame will raise some questions in the field as to what might have caused this. It could just be down to better sky surveys and techniques around the world or down to blind luck. If these recent asteroids weren’t discovered, they likely would passed the Earth unnoticed, it is open to debate however.
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Courtesy of www.slooh.com
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