Earth is being threatened… again! No matter if there are issues on Earth or out in the universe, our planet is always the one in danger. This time it comes from asteroids that co-orbit Venus, the ones that mean a danger for us. Even though NASA is always trying to track dangers coming from out of Earth, they have missed this one. So, let’s see what we (and mostly scientists) have to deal with this time.
What’s coming towards us?
The asteroids that are threatening Earth are not regular ones, they are co-orbit Venus asteroids. This means that these asteroids use a similar orbit as Venus around the Sun. They are considered a threat for our planet because they can cross the Earth’s orbit and collide against us. I think everybody has lost track of the many meteorites and asteroids coming towards us.
Undetectable asteroids
These asteroids are located in a specific part where the light of the Sun acts as a shield so they become unnoticeable from Earth. What’s more, their orbits could change their trajectory over time which makes it even more difficult to detect.
It is true NASA has highly developed technology for its missions, but this case is different. This situation limits the efficiency of telescopes like the Vera Rubin Observatory, so what scientists propose is to start missions to be able to identify and track those dangerous asteroids.
What are those missions?
The specific missions proposed by scientists are still in that phase or in development, but they could save our planet from these hidden asteroids.
One of the missions is to use satellites in the orbit of Venus, this way scientists could observe the objects hidden by the light of the Sun, because they would be in the opposite direction to the Sun.
Another mission would be to put telescopes in estable points in space, like L1 or L2 between the Sun and Venus or between the Sun and Earth, to watch out for those asteroids.
Simulation of Earth’s danger situation
Thanks to the improvement of technology, scientists could create a simulation to see how these asteroids would act. They used digitized drones as the asteroids with different orbits. What they concluded was that the asteroids with a circular shape orbits are prone to get closer to Earth.
Also, gravity of other planets can change their trajectories and be pushed towards different directions leading to our planet. All roads lead to Earth.
The last result from this simulation was that these collisions had a high percentage of occurring if there are not any measures taken into account beforehand.
The damage would be horrendous
We are not aware of the possible damage this event can cause. Some of the asteroids are big enough to destroy Earth in case of collision. To make a comparison with a real life event, one of these asteroids is 150 meters diameter and it could release hundreds of TNT megatons. This is even more than the atomic bombs in the Second World War! So, you can imagine how chaotic this would be.
There is nothing we can do about asteroids, but we need to keep trusting scientists and let them properly work. They are the ones who know more about Earth, so we and the institutions should listen to them and follow their instructions. Scientists have data and have been studying these issues for many years. I think they may be some kind of experts on the matter, don’t you think so?
For now we can just relax and live in the present by taking care of our planet, which will be very grateful for. We’ll see what other studies they will conclude in the near future.