Now and then, there is a newsflash saying “an asteroid the size of a football stadium, or the Eiffel tower is headed toward the Earth.” At this point, they are not even scary. But one mustn’t rule out the possibility of any of these warnings being false. Thanks to the protective layers between Earth’s surface and outer space, there is minimum to no damage due to these hazardous asteroid warnings. Astronomers and Asteroid hunters have observed three near-Earth asteroids (NEA) hiding under the glare of the Sun.
NEAs are an illusive population between Venus’ and Earth’s orbits. These asteroids have the potential to harm the world seriously. Twilight surveys made this observation of these hazardous asteroids in Earth’s orbit possible.
The Three NEAs
The three asteroids have been given the names 2022AP27, 2021 LJ4, and 2021 PH27. 2021 LJ4 and 2021 PH27 are both securely positioned. The latter is noteworthy since it has a surface hot enough to melt lead and is the Sun’s nearest known asteroid.
The largest space object discovered in the last eight years with an orbit that might cross Earth’s path is 2022AP27, which has a 1.5-KM diameter.
Only 2 of these rocks with a diameter of more than 1 km have been discovered thus far, while others may lurk in the shadows.
It is “notoriously tough” for astronomers to see what might be hiding in the zone between the orbits of Earth and Venus since the area is frequently obscured by the sun’s glare, according to scientists. Recently, though, astronomers have been able to overcome the difficulty by conducting surveys during two 10-minute nighttime windows.
Researchers claim that an asteroid of this size and this hazardous to the planet is the largest to be discovered in about eight years.
