Latest news with #ValerioCarruba
Metro
14 hours ago
- Science
- Metro
Six asteroids 'dangerous to Earth' discovered - but could they really hit us?
Astronomers have discovered six asteroids that are 'potentially dangerous to Earth'. But is there a reason to panic? Venus, our celestial next-door neighbour, is hiding possibly hundreds of unpredictable and hard-to-see asteroids, according to a new study. These space rocks are 'co-orbitals', so orbit the Sun in line with Venus from a safe distance. The researchers wrote in a paper that while there's a slim chance the asteroids will collide with Venus, them being co-orbitals 'does not protect them from encountering Earth'. Of the six 'invisible threats', three named 2020 SB, 524522, and 2020 CL1 'have a severe risk of collision' as their orbits allow them to approach Earth within 0.05 astronomical units (about 4,650,000 miles). While that sounds far, that's close enough for them to be considered potentially hazardous asteroids. Two of the asteroids, 2020 SB, 524522, are up to 1,500 feet in diameter, about the same size as a football field, while 2020 CL1 is nearly 2,000 feet. This means they're about the same size as the 'city killer' asteroid that space officials briefly believed could smack Earth in 2032. An asteroid of this size smashing into the planet would be the equivalent of 'millions of nuclear bombs', experts previously told Metro, flattening the impact site and causing countless earthquakes and tsunamis. But experts doubt the 'city-killer' asteroid, named 2024 YR4, will come at all close to hitting the Earth. One reason is because the asteroid has a path so clear scientists can even predict what time it will come close to Earth. Valerio Carruba from the University of São Paulo in Brazil, who led the study, says the Venus asteroids are too unpredictable with only a small gravitational change or other force enough to nudge them towards Earth. The brightness and glare of the Sun make anything whizzing around Venus hard to see through a telescope. The Rubin Observatory in Chile would have about four weeks to spot them. The authors added: 'Low-e [low eccentricity] Venus co-orbitals pose a unique challenge because of the difficulties in detecting and following these objects from Earth.' Eccentricity refers to how round an orbit is, with a perfectly circular one having an eccentricity of zero. The smaller the orbit, the trickier they are to see. What doesn't help is their 'highly chaotic' orbits, 'with Lyapunov times of the order of 150 years', the authors said. Lyapunov time is how long an object's orbit takes to become completely unpredictable – so looking at the asteroids today won't tell us much about what its orbit will look like in 150 years. The researchers got around this by 'cloning' the rocks onto a simulated solar system and seeing where they wound up after 36,000 years. They said: 'There is a range of orbits with eccentricity <0.38, larger at lower inclinations, for which Venus' co-orbitals can pose a collisional hazard to Earth.' Chris Lintott, a professor of astrophysics at the University of Oxford, would be the first to admit this all sounds scary. Speaking to Metro, he said: 'There's absolutely no need to panic – these asteroids are safely in their orbits millions of miles away and pose no imminent threat to Earth.' The odds that a city-destroying asteroid will hit Earth is about 1% per century, while no rocks larger than a kilometre are expected to get anywhere near us for at least the next 1,000 years. Planetary defence and space officials have plans in place in the event an asteroid does pose a threat, including smashing a spacecraft into it or shooting a pulse of radiation. More Trending Every close call with these titanic rocks, however scary, gives officials more data to work with to keep us safe. In the last year, 154 asteroids larger than a kilometre drifted closer to Earth than the Moon, according to Nasa. Linott added: 'We are getting better at understanding where asteroids that do hit the Earth come from though, and with new telescopes we're more likely than ever to have advanced notice of a threat. 'Despite these new ideas, you've never been safer from an asteroid dropping on you than you are now.' Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@ For more stories like this, check our news page. MORE: Twist in search for mysterious 'Planet Nine' in the dark depths of our solar system MORE: Saturn in Aries for the first time since 1999 will impact these five star signs most MORE: Nasa warns of huge solar flares that could cause blackouts on Earth
News.com.au
a day ago
- General
- News.com.au
3 city-killing asteroids could strike Earth within weeks without warning
Good things don't come in threes. Venus is concealing at least three city-killer asteroids that could strike Earth in weeks without warning, potentially wreaking havoc upon our planet before we can react. 'Twenty co-orbital asteroids [space rocks in the orbit of two celestial bodies] of Venus are currently known,' the authors warned in the arockcalyptic study, which was published in the journal 'Astronomy & Astrophysics.' The international research team, led by Valerio Carruba of São Paulo University in Brazil, wrote that at least three of the asteroids — 2020 SB, 524522 and 2020 CL1 — that circle the sun in tandem with our twin planet have unstable orbits that take them dangerously close to Earth, the Daily Mail reported. If this shaky trajectory is shifted only slightly by a small gravitational change or other force, the asteroids could be set on a collision course with our planet, per the study. 'Co-orbital status protects these asteroids from close approaches to Venus, but it does not protect them from encountering Earth,' the researchers warned, according to the Daily Galaxy. Carruba & Co. came to this conclusion by using imitation space rocks to simulate a range of possible outcomes over 36,000 years, finding that there is a sizeable population of low-eccentricity asteroids — those previously thought to be harmless — that could be propelled toward Earth via gravitational shifts and other factors. To make matters worse, the aforementioned cosmic rocks' orbits make them almost invisible to Earthly detection devices. While scientists at NASA and other space agencies routinely track potentially hazardous near-Earth asteroids, the telescopes can't spot rocks in a suborbital path with Venus due to the sun's glare, which shields them like a cosmic cloaking device, WION reported. Due to this interstellar blind spot, the Rubin Observatory in Chile would have only two to four weeks to spot deadly asteroids, leaving us little time if they were on a collision course. For reference, a mission to engineer something that could deflect a killer space rock generally takes years to formulate. 'Low-e [low eccentricity] Venus co-orbitals pose a unique challenge, because of the difficulties in detecting and following these objects from Earth,' the authors wrote in their conclusion. It would be bad news if one of these intergalactic gravelstones hit home. Asteroids 2020 SB, 524522 and 2020 CL1 measure between 330 and 1,300 feet in diameter, making each one capable of destroying entire cities and causing massive fires and tsunamis, the Daily Mail reported. An impact would leave a crater over two miles wide and generate 1 million times more energy than the atomic bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, in 1945. Unfortunately, due to the constraints of terrestrial monitoring equipment, we may have to look to the stars for a solution. 'We believe that only a dedicated observational campaign from a space-based mission near Venus could potentially map and discover all the still 'invisible' PHA [potentially hazardous asteroids] among Venus' co-orbital asteroids,' the authors wrote. However, the powers that be better hurry, as researchers predict that co-orbital asteroids' orbits could become unpredictable in just more than 150 years — a blip in the interstellar timescale.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Venus's hidden asteroids could be Earth's next major impact risk
It may look like Earth's twin, but Venus is keeping secrets. New research suggests that dozens—possibly hundreds—of asteroids are quietly orbiting the Sun in sync with Venus. Known as Venus co-orbitals, these stealthy rocks follow a similar path around the Sun, making them difficult to spot from Earth. For a long time, experts have only known about 20 of them, and most have been easier to spot. However, new research suggests a significant yet undetected population of these asteroids. "Twenty co-orbital asteroids of Venus are currently known. Co-orbital status protects these asteroids from close approaches to Venus, but it does not protect them from encountering Earth," a team led by Valerio Carruba, an assistant professor at São Paolo University in Brazil, wrote in the study paper. Venusian co-orbital asteroids are classified as Potentially Hazardous Asteroids (PHAs) if they are at least 140 meters (460 feet) in diameter. In terms of distance, these asteroids are calculated to approach Earth's orbit within 0.05 astronomical units (4.6 million miles). An important question researchers are investigating is whether these objects pose a genuine collision threat to Earth or not. 'We aim to assess the possible threat that the yet undetected population of Venus co-orbitals may pose to Earth and investigate their detectability from Earth and space observatories,' the study noted. The team suspects the known 20 Venus co-orbitals are just the tip of the iceberg. It could be even more challenging to spot Venus's hidden co-orbital asteroids. Current ground-based telescopes face limitations in detecting Venus co-orbital asteroids due to fleeting observation windows and the Sun's bright glare. A particularly unsettling aspect is that these asteroids have a "Lyapunov time" of roughly 150 years. Universe Today explained that the Lyapunov time measures the point at which an object's orbit enters a chaotic, unpredictable state. In a nutshell, experts might be able to monitor the path of asteroids for a while, but the future orbital behavior will remain unpredictable. This makes it challenging to assess whether they will have a close encounter with Earth or even a collision. Researchers digitally replicated these hidden asteroids and conducted 36,000-year orbital simulations to understand the potential threat. The findings are alarming: "There is a sizable population of potential co-orbitals at lower eccentricity capable of numerous close encounters—and perhaps collisions—with Earth." "There is a range of orbits with e < 0.38, larger at lower inclinations, for which Venus' co-orbitals can pose a collisional hazard to Earth," the study added. The results indicate that the asteroids with eccentricities below 0.38 could strike Earth. Eccentricity measures how stretched out an orbit is. An eccentricity of 0 means a perfectly circular path, while larger numbers indicate a more elongated ellipse. In terms of studying the hidden asteroids, the upcoming Vera Rubin Observatory offers hope. Its incredibly powerful camera may help us catch some elusive objects under favorable conditions. But even Rubin's capabilities might not be enough to find the entire population. The researchers suggest that a space-based observatory, perhaps a constellation of spacecraft near Venus, could be our best bet. NASA has already taken a step towards planetary defense by successfully executing the DART asteroid mission. In the worst-case scenario, it could prevent a catastrophe similar to the one that led to the extinction of the dinosaurs. However, accurately predicting the precise path of these Venus co-orbitals is critical for any successful deflection effort. The study is posted on the pre-print server it has also been submitted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysics.
NDTV
2 days ago
- Science
- NDTV
3 'City-Killer' Asteroids Could Strike Earth In Weeks, Say Scientists
At least three large asteroids, powerful enough to destroy an entire city, could be on a collision course with Earth in the coming weeks, a new study has warned. Published in the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics, the study highlights the threat posed by three space rocks-named 2020 SB, 524522, and 2002 CL1-which currently share an orbit with Venus. According to the international research team led by Valerio Carruba from Sao Paulo State University in Brazil, these asteroids are hidden in the Sun's glare, making them nearly impossible to detect with telescopes on Earth. While their current paths don't bring them close to Venus, researchers caution that even a minor gravitational disturbance could shift their orbits toward Earth, with potentially catastrophic consequences. If one were to strike, the impact could create a crater more than 3 kilometres wide and release energy up to a million times greater than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima, Fox News reported. "These co-orbital asteroids are protected from close encounters with Venus, but not with Earth," the researchers said, as quoted by The Daily Galaxy. The objects are especially dangerous because their position relative to the Sun acts like a cosmic blind spot, making last-minute detection extremely difficult. The Rubin Observatory in Chile, which monitors such threats, would have just two to four weeks' notice before any potential impact. The study suggests that only a dedicated space-based mission near Venus could effectively detect these hidden, potentially hazardous asteroids.
Sky News AU
2 days ago
- Science
- Sky News AU
Three city-killing asteroids could strike Earth within weeks - generating a million times more energy than Hiroshima atomic bomb
Good things don't come in threes. Venus is concealing at least three city-killer asteroids that could strike Earth in weeks without warning, potentially wreaking havoc upon our planet before we can react. 'Twenty co-orbital asteroids [space rocks in the orbit of two celestial bodies] of Venus are currently known,' the authors warned in the arockcalyptic study, which was published in the journal 'Astronomy & Astrophysics.' The international research team, led by Valerio Carruba of São Paulo University in Brazil, wrote that at least three of the asteroids — 2020 SB, 524522 and 2020 CL1 — that circle the sun in tandem with our twin planet have unstable orbits that take them dangerously close to Earth, the Daily Mail reported. If this shaky trajectory is shifted only slightly by a small gravitational change or other force, the asteroids could be set on a collision course with our planet, per the study. 'Co-orbital status protects these asteroids from close approaches to Venus, but it does not protect them from encountering Earth,' the researchers warned, according to the Daily Galaxy. Carruba & Co. came to this conclusion by using imitation space rocks to simulate a range of possible outcomes over 36,000 years, finding that there is a sizable population of low-eccentricity asteroids — those previously thought to be harmless — that could be propelled toward Earth via gravitational shifts and other factors. To make matters worse, the aforementioned cosmic rocks' orbits make them almost invisible to Earthly detection devices. While scientists at NASA and other space agencies routinely track potentially hazardous near-Earth asteroids, the telescopes can't spot rocks in a suborbital path with Venus due to the sun's glare, which shields them like a cosmic cloaking device, WION reported. Due to this interstellar blind spot, the Rubin Observatory in Chile would have only two to four weeks to spot deadly asteroids, leaving us little time if they were on a collision course. For reference, a mission to engineer something that could deflect a killer space rock generally takes years to formulate. 'Low-e [low eccentricity] Venus co-orbitals pose a unique challenge, because of the difficulties in detecting and following these objects from Earth,' the authors wrote in their conclusion. It would be bad news if one of these intergalactic gravelstones hit home. Asteroids 2020 SB, 524522 and 2020 CL1 measure between 330 and 1,300 feet in diameter, making each one capable of destroying entire cities and causing massive fires and tsunamis, the Daily Mail reported. An impact would leave a crater over two miles wide and generate 1 million times more energy than the atomic bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, in 1945. Unfortunately, due to the constraints of terrestrial monitoring equipment, we may have to look to the stars for a solution. 'We believe that only a dedicated observational campaign from a space-based mission near Venus could potentially map and discover all the still 'invisible' PHA [potentially hazardous asteroids] among Venus' co-orbital asteroids,' the authors wrote. However, the powers that be better hurry, as researchers predict that co-orbital asteroids' orbits could become unpredictable in just more than 150 years — a blip in the interstellar timescale. Originally published as Three city-killing asteroids could strike Earth within weeks - generating a million times more energy than Hiroshima atomic bomb
