There are many asteroids in the solar system.
Around 1 million is what we know. Almost all of the asteroids are in the far reaches of the solar system. Only a few have been discovered entirely.
The models suggest that there should be a population of asteroids close to the Sun, constrained by Venus's position in the solar system. The asteroid 'Ayl'chaxnim' was discovered in 2020 The Luiseo language says "Venus girl"
'Ayl'chaxnim' is too large to be an inner-Venus asteroid.
Scientists are trying to figure out what the rock is, how it got there, and if it can lead to more inner-Venus asteroids.
The paper describing the findings was accepted for publication in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.
The inner-Venus asteroid population should consist of rocks around 1 kilometer in diameter or below.
It's difficult to find these asteroids because they are very close to the Sun in the sky, so we can only find them in a short period of time. This is no mean feat because they are small.
Initial observations of 'Ayl'chaxnim', first detected using the Zwicky Transient Facility, and followed up using a number of different instruments, suggest that the asteroid is around 2 kilometers in diameter. It is similar to S type asteroids from the inner Main Belt of asteroids that travel between Mars and Jupiter.
At the farthest reaches of the asteroid's path, it flies out of the Sun at a rate of less than one astronomer's unit of the sun. The distance between Venus and the sun is 0.72.
Bolin and his colleagues determined that 'Ayl'chaxnim' is 1.7 kilometers in diameter and migrated to its current position from the Main Belt.
Modelling suggests that asteroids with 'Ayl'chaxnim's profile should come from the Main Belt.
Bolin and his team discovered that 'Ayl'chaxnim' only arrived at its current position in the last million years. It won't stay there long. Ninety percent of the Ayl'chaxnim clones had a collision with a planet within 30 million years.
Within 50 million years, 13 percent of the clones collided with the Sun, while another 13 percent, 52 percent, 16 percent, and 2 percent collided with other planets.
It is possible that 4 percent of the 10 percent will survive longer than 50 million years. The survival rate for 'Ayl'chaxnim' is just 0.04 percent.
We haven't been able to find many inner-Venus asteroids because of this short time of stability. The first objects found in any population tend to be the outliers and give us a big enough signal to detect.
'Ayl'chaxnim is larger than models accounted for, but it might just be a big outlier, or we just need to look a bit harder.'
Bolin and his team want us to do that. The simulations suggest that 'Ayl'chaxnim' could collide with Earth within 50 million years. The odds are still not zero. We want to know if there are more asteroids out there.
The twilight sky within 50 degrees of the Sun is relatively unexplored and the comparison between observations and asteroid population models requires future exploration of this phase space.
The near-Sun sky and the inner-Venus asteroid population will be covered by surveys.
As 'Ayl'chaxnim' was the first of these asteroids to be officially detected, the team proposes that this population be called 'Ayl'chaxnim asteroids.
The research can be accessed on arXiv.
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