Scientists discovered the planet killer - asteroid 2022 AP7 1.5 km long was hiding behind the Sun all this time

The Victor Blanco Space Telescope in Chile helped scientists detect a potentially dangerous asteroid to Earth.

Here's What We Know

The 4-meter telescope belongs to the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile. It is equipped with a DECam camera that operates in the infrared and optical ranges. The camera is used to search for black matter.

The sun blinds telescopes, so scientists have only a few minutes a day to observe space objects near Venus and Mercury. In about a year and a half they have managed to fix three potentially dangerous asteroids. They are 2021 LJ4, 2021 PH27 and 2022 AP7. The diameter of the first two is 0.3-0.4 km and 1 km respectively.

Our hero is the largest asteroid in the last eight years, which crosses the orbit of our planet. Its diameter is 1.5 km. At the same time the scientists' calculations show that any space object larger than 1 km is a planet killer.

Despite the fact that 2022 AP7 is in close proximity to the Earth, it was detected only in January 2022. This is because it was hiding behind the Sun. Fortunately for all mankind, the asteroid has an elongated orbit with the farthest point in Jupiter's orbit, and its orbital period around the Sun lasts for five years. Scientists do not yet see 2022 AP7 as a direct threat to Earth, but fear that other dangerous celestial bodies may be hiding behind the Sun.

Source: New Atlas