Three previously unknown near-Earth asteroids (NEAs) have been discovered in the inner Solar System with one of them the largest potentially hazardous object found in eight years, according to findings published in The Astronomical Journal. “Our twilight survey scans the region within the orbits of Earth and Venus for asteroids,” the paper’s lead author and astronomer Scott Shepard said in a NOIR Lab press release announcing the findings Monday. “So far we have found two large near-Earth asteroids that are about 1 kilometer in diameter, a size we call killer planets. One of the asteroids, named 2022 AP7, is nearly a mile across and could be in Earth’s path in the future, the press release said. Although its exact path is unclear, the asteroid will remain “very far from Earth” for now, Shepard said, according to CNN. Twilight observations where astronomers spotted three near-Earth asteroids. DOE/FNAL/DECam/CTIO/NOIRLab/NSF/ Shepard said a near-Earth asteroid that is one kilometer, — that’s 0.6 miles — or larger “would have a devastating impact on life as we know it,” according to the CNN report. The planet would be cooled by dust and pollutants in the atmosphere for years that would prevent sunlight from hitting the planet’s surface, according to CNN. “It would be a mass extinction event the likes of which has not been seen on Earth for millions of years,” Sheppard was quoted as saying. Sheppard told the New York Times, “This is what we call a planet killer. If this hits Earth, it would wreak havoc on the entire planet. It would be very bad for life as we know it.” The most threatening asteroid would still be far away.CTIO//NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/D. Muniza However, planetary scientist Tracy Becker, who was not involved in the study, said there is an “extremely low chance” of it affecting Earth in the near future, according to the Times. The other two asteroids, named 2021 LJ4 and 2021 PH27, are orbiting safely inside Earth’s orbit, according to NOIR Lab. Asteroids in this region are difficult to detect because they lie between Earth and Venus where they are obscured by the sun’s glare, according to NOIR Lab. Astronomers only have 10-minute nighttime windows to view the region while battling the bright background from the sun. “There are probably only a few NEAs of similar sizes to be found, and these undiscovered large asteroids probably have orbits that keep them inside the orbits of Earth and Venus most of the time,” Sheppard said in the release. “Only about 25 asteroids with orbits completely inside the Earth’s orbit have been discovered to date, due to the difficulty of observing near the Sun’s glow.”
