0
0
“Planet killer” asteroid discovered: Researchers find 2025 SC79, the second fastest “twilight” asteroid in the solar system—current research.
It has the second-fastest orbit in our solar system and has been hidden from the world’s view in the glare of the sun. Nevertheless, astronomer Scott S. Sheppard of the Carnegie Science Center discovered the nearly record-breaking asteroid in September.
2025 SC79 is only the second known object with an orbit entirely within Venus. On its 128-day journey around the Sun, it even crosses the orbit of Mercury, the innermost planet.
Sheppard and his team specialize in researching objects in the solar system. They search the sky for so-called “twilight” asteroids and help identify objects that could pose a threat to our Earth.
For this work, which NASA partly funds, the scientists use the Dark Energy Camera on the 4-meter Víctor M. Blanco telescope in Chile. This allows them to search for such “planet killers” even in the glare of sunlight. With the help of other telescopes, the sighting of 2025 SC79 was finally confirmed—before it could disappear behind the sun again.
“The most dangerous asteroids are the hardest to detect,” Sheppard explains in a press release. Most asteroid researchers would only search for these objects in the darkness of night because that is when they are easiest to spot.
In contrast, asteroids near the sun can only be observed during twilight—when the sun is just rising or setting. The research leader, therefore, warns of a “blind spot”: “When these ‘twilight asteroids’ approach Earth, they could pose a serious impact risk.”
Researchers will now have to wait several months until the 700-meter-diameter chunk re-enters Earth’s field of vision. Only then will it be possible to gather further details about its composition—and how it survives the intense heat near the sun—as well as its likely origin.
“Many asteroids in the solar system are located in one of two belts of space rock. However, disturbances can fling objects into closer orbits,” Sheppard concludes. “Understanding how they got to these locations can help us protect our planet and learn more about the history of the solar system.”
In 2021, the team also discovered the previous record holder, 2021 PH27. It takes just 113 days to orbit the sun. In April of this year, 2025, GN1 followed as an almost equally fast challenger—both have shared the number one spot ever since.
- source: heute.at/picture: pixabay.com
This post has already been read 17 times!
