Astronomers have discovered more than 30,000 near-Earth asteroids (NEAs) in the solar system, which are rocky bodies that revolve around the sun along a path that brings it closer to Earth’s orbit.
According to the European Space Agency, science knows a total of 3,039 asteroids near Earth and the number is rapidly increasing. The agency says 1,425 of these asteroids can impact our planet, so they are under the watchful eye of a network of telescopes.
“The good news is that more than half of the near-Earth asteroids known today have been discovered in the past six years, demonstrating how much better our view of asteroids is,” said Richard Moisel, head of the agency’s planetary defense division.
