Astronomers have discovered three newfangled near - Earth asteroid hiding in the blaze of the Sun , include the biggest"potentially hazardous " asteroiddiscovered in eight years .

Thanks to the Cerro Tololo Inter - American Observatory , the uncovering adds to the known Near - Earth object , in particular , those that stay between the orbit of Earth and Venus . The asteroid , known as 2022 AP7 , is 1.5 kilometers ( almost one naut mi ) wide , and its orbit crossbreed Earth ’s own .

study this region is difficult due to the brightness level of the Sun , so observational campaigns only happen in the brief 10 - minute windowpane after sunset and before sunrise . This led to the breakthrough last year of asteroid2021 PH27 , the closest known body to the Sun , which is also wider than a kilometer but as luck would have it never come close to us . A third challenging object has been called 2021 LJ4 and is somewhat minor .

“ Our nightfall survey is scouring the area within the orbits of Earth and Venus for asteroids , ” say Scott S. Sheppard , an astronomer at the Earth and Planets Laboratory of the Carnegie Institution for Science , in astatement . “ So far we have find two large near - Earth asteroids that are about 1 klick across , a size of it that we call planet killers . ”

Potentially hazardous objects are near - land space rocks – asteroid or comets – that have orbits that make a close approach to Earth and are a size that would cause important scathe if they hit us . When they are 1 kilometer or more , they are deemed " planet sea wolf " .

“ There are probable only a few NEAs with similar size leave to find , and these large undiscovered asteroids in all likelihood have arena that keep them upcountry to the orbits of Earth and Venus most of the metre . Only about 25 asteroid with orbit entirely within Earth ’s orbit have been discovered to escort because of the difficulty of honor near the brilliance of the Sun . ”

The discovery used the Dark Energy Camera ( DECam ) ride on the Víctor M. Blanco 4 - cadence Telescope in Chile . The DECam was designed to study galaxies and seek to understand what mysteriousdark energyis but it work jolly well at spotting asteroids too .

“ Our DECam survey is one of the largest and most sensitive searches ever performed for objects within Earth ’s orbit and near to Venus ’s reach , ” tell Sheppard . “ This is a unique chance to see what types of objects are lurking in the intimate Solar System . ”

“ After ten old age of noteworthy service , DECam continues to give of import scientific discovery while at the same fourth dimension bestow to wandering defense , a all-important service that benefits all humanity , ” added Chris Davis , NSF Program Director for NOIRLab .

Understanding the population of asteroids within Earth ’s electron orbit is very important , not just to keep the planet safe . eff how many objects there are and on the dot where they are tell us about how they acquire there and where they might be in the future .

The written report is published inThe Astronomical Journal .