Asteroid 2022 AP7 – “Planetary Killer”. crosses the Earth’s orbit

Observed asteroids fall In the orbits of Earth and Venus. However, their perception was hampered by the brightness of the sun, which “protects” them from telescopic observations.

In a report published inastronomical magazine The researchers explained that they used a short 10-minute time window during dusk to observe the objects. Asteroids were spotted by the Dark Energy Camera on the 4-meter Victor M. Blanco Telescope at the Chilean Observatory.

The largest object observed was named this way 2022 AP7. Scientists admit it It is the largest “potentially dangerous” object on Earth discovered in the past eight years. Its orbit crosses the orbit of our planet through each orbit of the sun. However, this only happens at the moment when 2022 AP7 and Earth are on either side of the star.

So scientists are unable to estimate when the asteroid and Earth “meet” in their path. However, there is a reason that objects larger than one kilometer in diameter are called planet killers. A collision with Earth would almost completely destroy life on our planet.

Floating dust will cover our atmosphere for years, cooling the planet and preventing sunlight from reaching its surface. This means a mass extinction of species unlike anything seen on Earth millions of years ago Scott S. said: Sheppard, the report’s lead author, is an astronomer at the Earth and Planetary Laboratory at the Carnegie Institution for Science in Washington.

The other two asteroids discovered by astronomers – 2021 LJ4, 2021 PH27 – have orbits that stay safely within Earth’s orbit.