Invisible asteroids pose threat to Earth

Описание: Invisible asteroids pose threat to Earth

#asteroid #science #earth #space

Researchers at the Sao Paulo State University (UNESP) have discovered a population of asteroids that could pose a very serious threat to Earth.

“Our study shows that there’s a population of potentially dangerous asteroids that we can’t detect with current telescopes,” Valerio Carruba, an astronomer at the UNESP School of Engineering said. “Instead, they’re much closer, in resonance with Venus.

“But they’re so difficult to observe that they remain invisible, even though they may pose a real risk of collision with our planet in the distant future.”

The scientists used computer modelling and numerical simulations to estimate the size of the threat these asteroids pose to Earth. Their findings were published in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics.

They found that the asteroids are positioned closer to the centre of the solar system than we are. When looking toward the sun to observe them, their visibility is drowned out by sunlight, making them almost impossible to see.

Asteroids that share an orbit with a planet are not unusual. For instance, NASA’s Lucy spacecraft is currently exploring a record-breaking number of asteroids that share an orbit around the sun with Jupiter.

But unlike Jupiter’s stable asteroids, the invisible ones orbiting Venus are unpredictable. They switch orbital configurations, or eccentricities, roughly every 12,000 years.

It’s during these transition phases that they can reach extremely close to Earth’s orbit, and even “potentially cross it.”

“Asteroids about 300 meters in diameter, which could form craters 3 to 4.5 kilometres wide and release energy equivalent to hundreds of megatons, may be hidden in this population,” says Carruba.

“An impact in a densely populated area would cause large-scale devastation.”

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