Astronomers have discovered an asteroid that orbits closer to the Sun than any other asteroid previously observed.
Additionally, scientists found two more asteroids, one of which could hit Earth someday.
Astronomer Scott Sheppard and his team at the Carnegie Institution for Science in Washington DC, USA, are behind the findings. Their findings were published in The Astronomical Journal.
Asteroids near the Sun
Both asteroids 2021 LJ4 and 2021 PH27 were observed last year, but this is the first time astronomers have been able to properly examine their orbits.
With a width of just over a kilometer in diameter, asteroids are found in the area between the sun and the earth.
However, 2021 PH27 has attracted attention, as it moves in an orbit about 20 million kilometers from the Sun, which is just over 13 percent of the distance between the Sun and the Earth.
With an average speed of 106 km / s and a temperature of around 500 degrees when it is closest to the Sun, it gets closer to our star than any other previously observed asteroid – that is, closer than any other object we know of.
Furthermore, PH27 2021 will orbit extremely close to Venus within the next thousands of years and could even collide with the planet within a few million years.
The researchers also found a new asteroid called 2022 AP7, which is just over 1.5 kilometers in diameter.
It orbits slightly farther than the other two asteroids, moving in an orbit that extends from Earth’s orbit to just beyond that of Jupiter.
When the massive AP7 of 2022 surpasses Earth’s orbit, it will be on the opposite side of the Sun, but will slowly approach us, making it possible that one day it will hit Earth.
However, Scott Sheppard asks for calm in one interview with New Scientist:
– It will take thousands, if not tens of thousands of years before it is visible in the night sky and can get very close to Earth. But it won’t get close to Earth for long.
It could measure ten minutes morning and evening
Asteroids moving around the interior of our solar system in the stretch between our star and Earth can be difficult to find because astronomers have to point telescopes towards the sun.
Brightness can be difficult to manage because the enormous amount of sunlight dazzles and can destroy telescopes. The light from the sky therefore makes it difficult to observe elements other than brighter objects.
Scott Sheppard and his research team have found a way around this problem.
By making observations only during the ten minutes in the morning and in the evening, when the sun was just below the horizon, it was easier for them to control the brightness of the telescope.
In addition, they used the so-called Dark Energy Camera (DEC), a purpose-built camera installed on the Blanco 4m telescope in Chile.
The telescope is purpose built to observe the bright light of the Sun, while the DEC is built to observe dark energy.
Because the camera has a large field of view and high sensitivity, especially in the infrared, researchers could detect new asteroids more easily.
Astronomers hope to map more of these asteroids to predict their orbits and learn more about the history of the solar system.
