At that point, the space rock will come "only" about 6,500 miles from the center of the Earth while traveling at roughly 33,300 miles per hour.
A newly discovered asteroid will come very close to Earth this week.
Asteroid 2023 BU was discovered last Saturday by astronomer Gennadiy Borisov at the MARGO Observatory in Crimea.
The asteroid will make a close approach Thursday at approximately 7:30 p.m. EST, according to data from NASA's CNEOS.
At that point, the space rock will come "only" about 6,500 miles from the center of the Earth while traveling at roughly 33,300 miles per hour.
2023 BU is the 4th nearest of more than 35,000 past and future Earth approaches in the CNEOS database.
The approach is so close that it is less than 3 percent of the average distance between the Earth and the moon.
The asteroid will even pass through the uppermost region of the Earth's atmosphere known as the "exosphere,"
But many scientists do not consider the exosphere as a true part of the atmosphere.
Gianluca Masi, an astronomer, said this is one of the closest recorded approaches by an asteroid in recent years.