One of the most dangerous asteroids on Earth has been discovered

An international team of astronomers from the Cerro Tololo Pan-American Observatory in Chile has observed For the first time three big confidants asteroidswhich had hitherto been hidden from the glare of the sun. One of them is the largest potentially threatening asteroid discovered in the past eight years.

The three space rocks belong to a group of asteroids that move in the inner solar system, between the sun and the orbits of Earth and Venus. This is a very difficult area for astronomical observations as well Ground-based telescopes “blind” the brightness of our star, while astronauts are completely unable to observe, as their electronic devices will be incinerated by solar radiation. So, So far, only 25 asteroids have been observed with complete orbits between the Earth and the Sun.

The most dangerous of these three is “2022 AP7”, with a diameter of one and a half kilometers, whose orbit may at some point pass the orbit of our planet. The other two orbits with a diameter of about one kilometer are “2021 LJ4” and “2021 PH27”, and their orbits are estimated to remain far from Earth’s “track” in the sky.

“2021 PH27” is the closest asteroid to the Sun found so far, and it is believed that during its orbit, when it gets very close to our star, its surface becomes so hot that it can melt lead.

“Halloween asteroid”

Besides, recently discovered an asteroid, “2022 RM4”, which is the size of a skyscraper and also belongs to the potentially future hazardous category, will pass close to Earth on November 1.

so called “Halloween asteroid” (It is celebrated on the night of October 31 mainly in Anglo-Saxon countries) It is estimated to have a diameter of 330 to 740 meters and will pass at a speed of 84,500 kilometers per hour at a distance of 2.3 million kilometers from our planet, or about six times the average Earth-Moon distance, according to the space agency. American (NASA).

The latter distinguishes A “Near-Earth Object” means a celestial body within less than 193 million km and a “Potentially Hazardous” is a large object within 7.5 million km. Then, astronomers monitor anything that receives this designation for a possible change in its orbit that could lead to a catastrophic collision with our planet.

NASA calculated the orbits of almost all NEOs after the end of the 21st century. So far, no danger has emerged from the sky for at least the next 100 years. If, unfortunately, such a possibility of an asteroid falling to Earth should arise, space deterrence technologies are already being tested as part of planetary defense.

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