A team of astronomers has spotted an asteroid that fully orbits the Sun in 113 days. Even with tools like the Hubble Space Telescope taking images that call what astronomers understand about space into question, a lot of cutting-edge work is being done in academia. For example, researchers at the University of Illinois were recently able to identify the relationship between supermassive black holes and the light emitted when the matter is consumed.
Asteroids are always fascinating to observe, partially because of the anxiety a potential impact, even one that is centuries out, can fuel. For instance, NASA is tracking the Bennu asteroid, which has a 0.037 percent chance of impacting Earth in the year 2182. And while scientists are studying asteroids to hopefully learn about what can impact their trajectory, the idea of these large rocks hurtling themselves at the Earth does bring about a form of existential dread to many.
Thankfully, the newly discovered asteroid, 2021 PH27, is locked in an orbit around the Sun. However, the course of the asteroid as published in the Dark Energy Camera on the National Science Foundation’s Blanco telescope in Chile. A few hours after the images were taken, Carnegie Institute researcher Scott S. Sheppard was able to find PH27. The measurements of the asteroid's path were plotted by Dave Tholen, a University of Hawaii researcher. “I surmised that for an asteroid this size to remain hidden for so long, it must have an orbit that keeps it so near to the Sun that it is difficult to detect from Earth's position,” Tholen said.
So What Do We Know?
The possible explanations behind PH27’s origin are speculative. Sheppard said it could have been “dislodged from the Main Asteroid Belt between Jupiter and Mars and the gravity of the inner planets shaped its orbit into its current configuration.” However, Sheppard also did put forward the idea that “based on its large angle of inclination of 32 degrees,” PH27 could be an extinct comet that came too close to a planet from the inner solar system.
A fact about PH27 is that, when the asteroid is at its closest to the Sun, the surface heats up to about 900 degrees Fahrenheit. For comparison, the melting point of lead is 622 degrees Fahrenheit. For this reason, researchers are very keen to discover what material PH27 could be made of that has allowed it to survive the thermal and gravitational stress of orbiting so close to the Sun.
Now the game plan with PH27 is to wait for it to be observable again early next year when observers will refine its orbital path and hopefully give it an official name. Space continues to surprise with each ing day. While there may be an infinite amount of new phenomena to discover, next year will hopefully see astronomers fully identify this previously unknown celestial body.
Source: Carnegie Science