Thousands of asteroids—including hundreds of “distant worlds” located out beyond the orbit of Neptune and dozens of previously unknown near-Earth objects—have been detected by astronomers.
Researchers at the Vera C. Rubin Observatory of the United States National Science Foundation (NSF) and Department of Energy have submitted an “unprecedented set of asteroid detections” to the International Astronomical Union’s Minor Planet Center, the body that essentially serves as a clearinghouse for data on the location of minor planets.
The submission represents the largest single batch of asteroid discoveries submitted in the past year.
The discoveries were a result of around a million observations of over 11,000 new asteroids and more than 80,000 already known asteroids, made over a period of a month-and-a-half.
These asteroids include “some that had previously been observed but were later ‘lost’ because their orbits were too uncertain to predict their future locations,” the NSF explained in a statement.
Among the new submissions are 33 previously unknown Near-Earth Objects (NEOs) “whose closest approach to the Sun is less than 1.3 times the distance between Earth and the Sun,” the foundation added.
Asteroids are small, rocky masses left over from the formation of the solar system about 4.6 billion years ago. They are found concentrated in the main asteroid belt, which lies around the sun between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.
The so-called “near-Earth objects” (NEOs) are asteroids whose orbits bring them within 120 million miles of the sun and into the Earth’s “orbital neighborhood.”
None of the newly discovered NEOs pose a threat to Earth, the NSF reported, and the largest one is around 1,640 feet wide.
While objects larger than 140 meters (around 459 feet) are closely monitored due to the “significant regional damage” they can cause upon impact, “only about 40 percent of these mid-sized NEOs have been identified so far,” the NSF explained.
“This first large submission after Rubin First Look is just the tip of the iceberg and shows that the observatory is ready,” Rubin solar system lead scientist Mario Juric, an astronomer from the University of Washington, said in a statement.
He added: “What used to take years or decades to discover, Rubin will unearth in months. We are beginning to deliver on Rubin’s promise to fundamentally reshape our inventory of the Solar System and open the door to discoveries we haven’t yet imagined.”
The Rubin Observatory is expected to evenutally uncover an some 90,000 new NEOs—some of which “may be potentially hazardous,” the NSF noted—as well as to nearly double the number of known NEOs larger than 460 feet.
“By enabling early detection and continuous monitoring of these objects, Rubin will be a powerful tool for planetary defense,” the NSF concluded.
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