A lonely sentinel
completes another orbit in the void of space, daring to swing closer to the Sun
than even Mercury. Little do the denizens of Earth know, that one tiny
gravitational interaction between either Mercury or Venus, could send this
object on a collision course with the Earth.
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before…a large asteroid just shot past the Earth, and scientists didn’t see it coming till it was too late.
Near-Earth asteroids seem to have a bad habit of creeping up on us. They’re incredibly hard to spot. The asteroid in question was only about 130 meters wide, large enough to destroy a city.
The Chelyabinks event from 2013, where a meteor exploded over the Russian city of the same name, releasing more energy than a nuclear bomb, shattering windows, and injuring 1,000 people, is a haunting example of the real threat these objects possess, and shows that, perhaps, the real danger of such objects doesn’t necessarily come from the Oort cloud, or beyond the solar system, but right within the inner solar system.
A world-ending asteroid was just recently discovered between the orbits of Venus and Mercury just recently, measuring in at about 1 kilometer in diameter. The asteroid in question was difficult to spot, being so close to the sun. But, by watching the skies close to sunrise or shortly after nightfall, scientists utilizing the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF) at Palomar University were able to discover the object. The asteroid, named 2019 LF6, is one of twenty objects dubbed “Atira asteroids” and it orbits at a brisk rate of 151 days, the fastest orbital period for any orbiting object that we’ve discovered so far.
“LF6 is very unusual both in orbit and in size – its unique orbit explains why such a large asteroid eluded several decades of careful searches,” Quanzhi Ye, the postdoctoral scholar at Caltech and the discoverer of 2019 LF6, said in a statement.
Ye went on to explain that these objects are best observed 20 to 30 minutes before and after sunset respectively. Together with Wing-Huen Ip from the National Central University of Taiwan, Ye’s discovered two such Atira asteroids.
Atira objects are fascinating because they don’t orbit within the typical plane that everything else in the solar system seems to follow, orbiting “well outside the plane of the solar system,” as Caltech professor Tom Prince said in the same statement.
According to officials at Caltech, ZTF has also found around 100 near-Earth asteroids and 2,000 main-belt space rocks orbiting between Mars and Jupiter.
The problem, of course, with objects like this is that they’re so hard for astronomers to actually find. There’s no telling how many world-ending asteroids like LF6 there might be. And, what’s more alarming, is the particular orbit that this object takes. It crosses Venus’ orbit, and it’s possible that LF6 and Venus could cross paths. If the asteroid doesn’t collide with Venus, then its gravity could potentially change its orbit, maybe even putting it on a collision course with Earth.
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1580744883614{background-color: rgba(0,0,0,0.86) !important;*background-color: rgb(0,0,0) !important;}”]About the Author
Eric Malikyte was raised on a healthy diet of science fiction, fantasy, and a fear of the unknown. Thanks to shows like Sightings and The Art Bell Show, Eric developed a mixed interest in the sciences and the paranormal. He lives in Northern Virginia, where he spends time working odd hours and talking to his cat while he writes his novels.
If you like content like this, be sure to sign up to Eric’s newsletter, where you’ll get a free short story, early beta read ARCs of his books, and more science articles like this! Sign up below.
