‘Planet-killer’ asteroid with potential to collide with Earth found lurking in sun’s glare

For a long time, the shard of the sun hid a secret – a trio of space rocks with a member that could one day be dangerous for the planet. Of the three asteroids recently discovered by astronomers, two are so massive they have been described as “planet killers” – and one has the potential to cross Earth’s orbit, according to a new study.

The area between the orbits of Earth and Venus is often hidden by glare from the sun, making it “notoriously difficult” for astronomers to observe what might be lurking in the region, scientists say. But recently, astronomers were able to get around the challenge by taking surveys during two 10-minute windows at night.

And what they found was well worth the wait. Hidden behind that glare were a trio of near-Earth asteroids, meaning gravity propelled them into orbits that “allow them to enter Earth’s neighborhood,” according to the Center for Near Earth Object. NASA studies.

The three asteroids have been named 2021 LJ4, 2021 PH27, and 2022 AP7. The first of the three is small and in an orbit that is safely and “completely inside Earth’s orbit.” Only about 25 asteroids with this type of orbit have been discovered so far, astronomers said in a press release, because of the sun. 2021 PH27 is also in this category, with one distinction: it is much larger.

2021 PH27 is between 0.9 and 1.7 kilometers (0.5 to 1 mile) long in diameter and is the closest known asteroid to the sun, according to a Noir Lab press release, making its surface so hot that it can melt lead. There are “probably several other” asteroids of this size and type in the region, the researchers said in their study.

“Our twilight survey scours the area inside the orbits of Earth and Venus looking for asteroids,” said astronomer Scott Sheppard, lead author of the new study. “So far we’ve found two large near-Earth asteroids about 1 kilometer in diameter, a size we call planet killers.”

The third and final newly discovered asteroid is 2022 AP7, and unlike its other trio members, it has the power to unleash a more powerful punch on the planet. This asteroid is larger than 2021 PH27, with a diameter of just under a mile long. It’s an Apollo asteroid, which means it has an orbital path that could one day force it into contact with Earth.

It’s also the largest potentially planet-hazardous object to have been discovered in about eight years, the researchers said.

“Over time, this asteroid will get brighter and brighter in the sky as it begins to cross Earth’s orbit closer and closer to where Earth really is,” Sheppard told New York. Times. “…This is what we call a planet killer. If this one hit the Earth, it would cause planetary destruction. It would be very bad for life as we know it.”

But planetary scientists Tracy Becker told The Times that such an incident in the “foreseeable future” has an “extremely low probability”.

And now the hunt for other asteroids continues using the Dark Energy Camera (DECam), which uses highly sensitive and capable technology to capture large swaths of the space sky.

“Large areas of sky are needed because interior asteroids are rare, and deep images are needed because asteroids are faint and you’re fighting the bright twilight sky near the Sun as well as the distorting effect of Earth’s atmosphere,” Sheppard said in the press. Release. “DECam can cover large areas of the sky at depths impossible to reach with smaller telescopes, allowing us to reach further, cover more sky, and probe the inner solar system in ways never before possible. .”