Astronomer Scott Sheppard of the Carnegie Institution for Science in Washington DC says that near-Earth object (NEO) discoveries are still waking up. This is because telescopes tend to look away from our planet to avoid the sun’s glare; however, new surveys are revealing asteroids hidden by our star’s glare, objects never seen before.
The researchers say that finding and tracking these space rocks could be vital in helping to improve our understanding of planet formation and the history of the solar system.
“New telescopic surveys are challenging the sun’s glare and looking for sunward-facing asteroids at twilight,” Sheppard wrote in the journal Science. “These surveys have found many previously undiscovered asteroids around Earth.”
Many go unnoticed
Thus, potentially dangerous rocky objects could be hidden in the light of our star. We have a blind spot. The biggest asteroid discoveries are being made at twilight, when astronomers can look near the horizon, and near the sun, for little-known asteroids orbiting within the orbits of Earth, Venus, and even Mercury.
The sky is cloudy just after sunset or just before sunrise, but bright enough to make searching difficult. But braving the twilight, asteroid hunters have been able to find many asteroids that cross the Earth’s orbit and some circulate in the inner solar system.
Precisely observing at twilight, scientists working with the four-meter Victor M. Blanco telescope in Chile found the first known asteroid to orbit closer to the Sun than Venus and the largest potentially dangerous asteroid for Earth ever found. in recent years. Models had predicted that these space rocks should exist, but now telescopes are beginning to confirm their presence.
They do not emit light
Asteroids don’t emit light on their own, but rather reflect light coming from the Sun, so it’s easier to see these little dots at night. But we can only see part of the sky in the dark.
There are more than 26,000 near-Earth asteroids , according to NASA, though only about 10,000 of them are larger than 140 meters. They are classified based on their position in our solar system.
NASA explained, in fact, that some asteroids can “sneak up” on us thanks to a quirk of Earth’s rotation that makes them appear as if they’re barely moving, making them hard to spot.
The discovery of NEOs ( Near Earth Objects ) should help scientists understand more about their movement and how their numbers have managed to remain stable over such long periods of time.
Although the probability of an asteroid colliding with Earth is low, this is a non-zero risk. If such objects are left unattended, they could have a fatal outcome for all of humanity. Knowing this, we should expect the discovery of a much larger number of asteroids, including some that may pose a hidden danger to humanity in the future.
Referencia: In the glare of the Sun
Searches during twilight toward the Sun have found several asteroids near Venus’ orbit Scott S. Sheppard Science 21 Jul 2022 Vol 377, Issue 6604 pp. 366-367
DOI: 10.1126/science.abj9820
