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Astronomers Find Rare Asteroids Hiding Near Sun and Earth
Asteroid 2025 SC79, about 700 meters wide, completes its orbit in 128 days, making it the second-fastest known asteroid orbiting inside Earth's path, astronomers said.
- On September 27, Carnegie Science astronomer Scott S. Sheppard discovered 2025 SC79 using the Dark Energy Camera on the National Science Foundation's Blanco 4-meter telescope; the roughly 700-metre asteroid is now hidden behind the Sun's glare.
- Researchers say 2025 SC79 belongs to the Atira group, the newest member with an orbit inside Earth's that may have been dislodged from the main asteroid belt and captured by the Sun.
- With a 128-day orbital period, 2025 SC79 crosses Mercury's orbit and has the third-shortest asteroid orbit, behind 2021 PH27 and two others with 115-day periods.
- Because these asteroids lurk near the Sun, they can only be seen at twilight and are among "the most dangerous asteroids" due to detection difficulty, posing risks to near-Earth communities.
- Pan-STARRS1 observers first spotted 2025 PN7, a harmless quasi-moon shadowing Earth for decades that researchers expect to remain until roughly 2083, offering a natural laboratory for near-Earth dynamics.
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Hidden in the sun's glare, this asteroid is uncomfortably close to earth
In the distant past, the solar system was rife with impacts and collisions. Millions of rocky objects zoomed chaotically through the system, smashing into each other in collisional cascades. Over time, many of them eventually became part of the rocky planets. What's left of the space rocks are mostly gathered in the main asteroid belt.
·United Kingdom
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UpstractAstronomers discover skyscraper-size asteroid hidden in sun's glare — and it's moving at a near-record pace
The newly discovered "twilight" asteroid, 2025 SC79, was obscured by the sun's glare until an astronomer pointed the Dark Energy Camera at it, highlighting the potential dangers of unseen asteroids.
·United States
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Leaning Left3Leaning Right3Center9Last UpdatedBias Distribution60% Center
Bias Distribution
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60% Center
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C 60%
R 20%
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