Astronomer suggests it is time to look for near-Earth asteroids in the direction of the sun

Bob Yirka is a research scientist at Phys.org.

Scott Sheppard, an astronomer with the Institute of Astronomy at the University of Hawaii, has published a Perspective piece in the journal Science suggesting that it is time for the space science community to take a closer look at near- Earth objects. He notes in his paper that the technology exists to look for and find such NEOs at night.

Most space gazing is done at night when the sky is not overwhelmed with light from the sun. Space scientists have ignored the planets that are outside the solar system. One or more of them could be on a path that leads to them crashing into Earth.

In the sun's glare, scientists are not completely ignoring Neos. Many of them have been found recently. More studies are needed to learn more about them. One team recently discovered an asteroid with an elliptical path around Venus and another that has the shortest trip around the sun, according to him. The Zwicky Transient Facility in the U.S. is one of the new facilities that could be used to study such NEOs. The latter has a dark energy camera that can be pointed at the sun.

If they travel inside of Venus's orbit, they are called Vatiras, which means they're classified based on their orbital positioning. Sheppard notes that their numbers are relatively constant. The number of objects that hit the Earth, the moon, or other heavenly bodies should be dropping. They aren't suggesting that they're being regenerated. Efforts should be made to find out where the other NEOs come from.

More information: Scott S. Sheppard, In the glare of the Sun, Science (2022). DOI: 10.1126/science.abj9820 Journal information: Science

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