Fastest Moving Asteroid In Our Solar System Finishes 1 Year In Just 113 Days
Scientists recently found the fastest moving asteroid which orbits our Sun. Taking roughly 113 days to complete one solar lap, the object is only behind Mercury in terms of the length of one revolution. Here's how scientists discovered it
Scientists just discovered the fastest asteroid in our solar system. Officially known as 2021 PH27, the asteroid completes a single lap around our Sun every 113 days (as measurable on Earth), scientists found.
Carnegie Science Edu
That's the shortest time taken by any object in the solar system after Mercury which takes less than 88 days to finish one revolution. That's not all! The newly discovered space rock also comes a lot more closer than to Sun than the planet Mercury.
According to estimates, the asteroid peaks at 20 million kilometres (12.4 million miles) near the Sun while Mercury's closest approach stands at 47 million kilometres (29 million miles).
CTIO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/J. da Silva (Spaceengine)
How hot is the 2021 PH27?
Such a close brush with the Sun ought to warm things up. The 2021 PH27's surface gets extremely hot, touching 500 degree Celsius (900 F), the team behind the discovery estimates.
Also read: Bennu The Asteroid Poses More Danger To Earth Than Previously Thought: NASA
Being so close to the Sun's gravity causes a wobble in the space rock's elliptical orbit, which is unstable. In fact, the asteroid will smash into Mercury, Venus or the Sun some million years from now.
Reuters
It is also possible for the object to be flung into a different direction if gravitational forces come to play before the Sun does.
How did astronomers discover fastest asteroid?
Spotted first on August 13 through the Dark Energy Camera (DEC), the 2021 PH27's orbit was ascertained by scientists over the last week. The DEC is a multipurpose instrument currently standing atop the Victor M. Blanco Telescope in Chile.
To verify its findings, the research team tallied the results with observations from the Magellan Telescopes at the Las Campanas Observatory in Chile, with further assistance from smaller telescopes in Chile and South Africa.
Also read: 7-Year-Old Girl From Brazil Discovers Around Seven Asteroids For NASA, Gets Recognition For The Same
The discovery team was lead by Scott Sheppard, an astronomer at the Carnegie Institution for Science in Washington, DC.
Reuters
In a statement, Sheppard highlighted the importance of "telescope time" for astronomers while explaining how telescope schedules for many astronomers were thrown off track to accommodate requests from their team.
The 2021 PH27 is roughly a kilometre wide (0.6 miles) and may have originated in the main asteroid belt located between Mars and Jupiter, later being kicked inward towards the Sun by gravitational forces.
The asteroid is now moving behind the Sun from Earth's point of view and will only be available for further research in early 2022.
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