The asteroid, called 2022 AP7, was reported by researchers looking for space rocks in the orbits of Earth and Venus. Writing in the Astronomical Journal, study lead author Scott Sheppard and his colleagues at the Carnegie Institution for Science in Washington say they have found three “rather large” asteroids, one of which – 2022 AP7 – crosses Earth’s orbit, making it a potentially dangerous asteroid. (PHA). At about 1.1km to 2.3km in diameter, the team says 2022 AP7 is the largest PHA discovered since 2014 and possibly in the top 5% of the largest ever found. “Any asteroid larger than 1 kilometer is considered a planet killer,” Sheppard said, adding that if such an object were to hit Earth, the impact would be devastating for life as we know it, with dust and pollutants being spewed into the atmosphere. would stay for years. “Earth’s surface will likely cool significantly from sunlight not reaching the planet. It would be a mass extinction event the likes of which has not been seen on Earth for millions of years,” he said. While the finding of 2022 AP7 may bring to mind visions of the asteroid Armageddon depicted in the movie Don’t Look Up, the study also offers reassurance. “It has no chance of hitting Earth, at this time,” Sheppard said, noting that 2022 AP7 currently crosses Earth’s orbit when Earth is on the far side of the sun. Start your day with the top stories from the US, plus the day’s must-reads from across the Guardian Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertising and content sponsored by external parties. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Sheppard added that slowly, over time, the asteroid will begin to cross Earth’s orbit closer to where our planet is. But, he said, “that will be centuries in the future, and we don’t know the trajectory of 2022 AP7 precisely enough to say much about its dangers centuries from now.” Sheppard said the team expects to find “a few more” near-Earth planet-killing objects 1 kilometer in size or larger in the next year or two through their survey, which uses the four-meter Blanco telescope in Chile. Jay Tait, director of the National Near-Earth Object Information Center in mid-Wales, told the Guardian he wasn’t losing sleep over 2022 AP7, adding that Earth was actually a very small target. “For now, anyway, the likelihood of an impact is pretty low. I wouldn’t say negligible, but quite low.” In September, Nasa launched the Dart mission, dropping a spacecraft at an asteroid in an attempt to deflect the latter from its orbit. The mission was an effort to test technology that could eventually be used to deal with space rocks that pose a threat to Earth. Last month, researchers confirmed that Dart was successful. Tate said an approach like Dart might not be suitable for 2022 AP7 given the asteroid’s size, but there were other possible methods. “That said, we have a lot of time,” he said, adding that it may be possible to use multiple Dart-like impacts to alter the asteroid’s path a bit.
title: “Huge Planet Killer Asteroid Discovered And It S Headed Our Way Asteroids " ShowToc: true date: “2022-12-23” author: “George Labonte”
The asteroid, called 2022 AP7, was reported by researchers looking for space rocks in the orbits of Earth and Venus. Writing in the Astronomical Journal, study lead author Scott Sheppard and his colleagues at the Carnegie Institution for Science in Washington say they have found three “rather large” asteroids, one of which – 2022 AP7 – crosses Earth’s orbit, making it a potentially dangerous asteroid. (PHA). At about 1.1km to 2.3km in diameter, the team says 2022 AP7 is the largest PHA discovered since 2014 and possibly in the top 5% of the largest ever found. “Any asteroid larger than 1 kilometer is considered a planet killer,” Sheppard said, adding that if such an object were to hit Earth, the impact would be devastating for life as we know it, with dust and pollutants being spewed into the atmosphere. would stay for years. “Earth’s surface will likely cool significantly from sunlight not reaching the planet. It would be a mass extinction event the likes of which has not been seen on Earth for millions of years,” he said. While the finding of 2022 AP7 may bring to mind visions of the asteroid Armageddon depicted in the movie Don’t Look Up, the study also offers reassurance. “It has no chance of hitting Earth, currently,” Shepard said, noting that 2022 AP7 currently crosses Earth’s orbit when Earth is on the far side of the sun. Start your day with the top stories from the US, plus the day’s must-reads from across the Guardian Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertising and content sponsored by external parties. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Sheppard added that slowly, over time, the asteroid will begin to cross Earth’s orbit closer to where our planet is. But, he said, “that will be centuries in the future, and we don’t know the trajectory of 2022 AP7 precisely enough to say much about its dangers centuries from now.” Sheppard said the team expects to find “a few more” near-Earth planet-killing objects 1 kilometer in size or larger in the next year or two through their survey, which uses the four-meter Blanco telescope in Chile. Jay Tait, director of the National Near-Earth Object Information Center in mid-Wales, told the Guardian he wasn’t losing sleep over 2022 AP7, adding that Earth was actually a very small target. “For now, anyway, the likelihood of an impact is pretty low. I wouldn’t say negligible, but quite low.” In September, Nasa launched the Dart mission, dropping a spacecraft at an asteroid in an attempt to deflect the latter from its orbit. The mission was an effort to test technology that could eventually be used to deal with space rocks that pose a threat to Earth. Last month, researchers confirmed that Dart was successful. Tate said an approach like Dart might not be suitable for 2022 AP7 given the asteroid’s size, but there were other possible methods. “That said, we have a lot of time,” he said, adding that it may be possible to use multiple Dart-like impacts to alter the asteroid’s path a bit.
