A asteroid nicknamed “killer of the planet” hidden in the light Sun finally detected. Dangerous for the Earth?
The potentially dangerous asteroid is 1.5 kilometers wide, called 2022 AP7. It is one of several large space rocks recently discovered by astronomers near the orbits of the Earth and Venus.
Currently, 2022 AP7 is passing through Earth’s orbit while our planet is on the opposite side of the sun. But scientists say that over thousands of years, the asteroid and Earth will slowly begin to pass through the closest point, increasing the likelihood of a catastrophe.
The asteroid impact was discovered alongside two other near-Earth asteroids using the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile.
The results are also described in a study published on 29 September a The Astronomical Journal.
“So far we have found two large near-Earth asteroids about 1 kilometer wide, the size of what we call planet killers,” said study lead author Scott Sheppard. Live science.
Sheppard, who is also an astronomer at the Carnegie Institution for Science in Washington, DC, said “planet-killing” asteroids are space rocks large enough to cause a mass extinction event if they hit Earth.
To find the asteroid, the astronomers used the 4-meter Dark Energy Camera of the Cerro Tololo Víctor M. Blanco telescope in the inner solar system.
The sun’s glow made observations impossible for most of the day, so the researchers only had two 10-minute twilight windows each night to make observations.
“Only about 25 asteroids have been discovered orbiting close to Earth so far, due to the difficulty of observing near the sun’s glow,” Sheppard said.
He said only a few potentially dangerous planets could be discovered, and that the massive asteroid 2022 AP7 is likely to have orbits that lie within the orbits of Earth and Venus most of the time.
The US Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has estimated the trajectories of all near-Earth objects beyond the turn of the century.
According to NASA, Earth is in no danger of an apocalyptic asteroid collision for at least the next 100 years. But that doesn’t mean astronomers think they should stop looking.
In March 2021, for example, a bowling ball-sized meteor exploded over Vermont with a force of 200 kilograms of TNT.
More dramatically, the 2013 meteorite explosion over Chelyabinsk, Russia, produced an explosion roughly equivalent to 400-500 kilotons of TNT, or 26 to 33 times the energy released by the Hiroshima bomb, injuring about 1,500 people. .
Several space agencies around the world are examining the possibility of deflecting dangerous asteroids if one were to make their way to Earth.
On September 26, the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) spacecraft deflected the harmless asteroid Dimorphos causing it to crash off course, changing the asteroid’s orbit by 32 minutes in the first test of planet Earth’s defense system.
China also suggested that the mission was in the early stages of planning an asteroid diversion mission, hitting 23 Long March 5 rockets on asteroid Bennu, which will be within 7.4 million kilometers of Earth’s orbit by 2175. and 2199.
China hopes to deflect space rock to keep Earth away from a potentially catastrophic impact.
(can / lth)
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