Planet Killer: An asteroid has been spotted hiding from the sun’s glare

asteroids – “Planet Killer” has been revealed Astronomy scientistsas it may pose a threat to a land In the future.

as you say CNNAstronomers have discovered three asteroids in… outer space Our neighborhood who were not visible where they were hiding from the glare of the sun.

In fact, one of them is the largest “threatened space object”, discovered in the past eight years.

These asteroids were present in their orbits a land Which AphroditeHowever, astronomers find it very difficult to observe them and gather information about them.

An international team of researchers has found a ‘window’ at dawn to observe asteroids, with the help of the telescope’s dark-energy camera. Victor M Blanco In the Cerro Tololo Observatory in Chile.

The results of their study were published Monday in the scientific journal.Astronomical Journal».

One of the asteroids, named 2022 AP7, is 1.5 kilometers wide and is in an orbit that might bring it into Earth’s path…but when is unknown.

“So far we’ve discovered two near-Earth asteroids that are about one kilometer wide – a size we consider ‘planet-killer’,” he said. Head of research departmentScott Sheppard, an astronomer at the Carnegie Institution for Science and the Earth and Planetary Laboratory in Washington.

One of them enters Earth’s orbit but that happens when our planet is on the other side of the sun.

As experts explain, this will continue for CenturiesThe asteroid takes about five years to make a complete revolution around the sun.

However, over time, its orbit may become synchronous with the Earth’s orbit.

However, no one can say how dangerous it might become in the future – at least not right now.

“For now, it will remain far from Earth,” Shepherd said, explaining that an asteroid one kilometer wide could destroy life on our planet.

Dust and pollutants will “choke” the Earth’s atmosphere for years, “blocking” the sun’s rays.

“It could cause a mass extinction on a scale not seen on Earth for millions of years,” Shepherd said.

The other two asteroids have been detected – the 2021 LG4 And the 2021 PH27– in different orbits and is not considered a threat to our planet.

The science team hopes to discover other dangerous asteroids in the near future.

Experts believe that there are about 1,000 space objects more than one kilometer wide near the Earth, and surveys in recent years have identified about 95% of them.

Astronomers…were excited about it 2021 PH27It is closer to the sun than anywhere else asteroids.

A “planet killer” asteroid spotted hiding in the sun’s glareby Ashley StricklandCNN