Topic Reading-Vol.3865-11/10/2022

Dear MEL Topic Readers,
‘Planet killer’ asteroid spotted hiding in the sun’s glare
There are over 27,000 known near-earth asteroids that orbit within 48 million kilometers from Earth. Fortunately, none of them has been found to pose a threat to Earth, yet. But it is quite difficult to observe those space objects, especially the ones that orbit within the inner solar system, which includes Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, and the main asteroid belt, because of the harsh light of the sun. So, astronomers use ground-based telescopes during the brief period of twilight. Recently, they found two large near-Earth asteroids that are larger than 1 kilometer, which could cause a devastating impact on Earth should they hit our planet. The impact would create dust and pollutants to fill the atmosphere for many years and cool the planet significantly. One of them orbits within Earth’s path and could hit Earth in an unknown future, though not within centuries from now. That’s good news for the time being. But we still haven’t found all the asteroids that could pose a threat to our planet, yet. That’s why space agencies are trying to detect asteroids and alter their course to avoid a catastrophic impact that once made most of the species extinct, including dinosaurs.
Enjoy reading the article and learn about the threats that near-Earth objects pose.
https://edition.cnn.com/2022/10/31/world/potentially-hazardous-near-earth-asteroid-scn/index.html