Astronomers have discovered 11,000 unknown asteroids in the Solar System

Astronomers at the Vera Rubin Observatory in Chile, using the new LSST digital camera and specialized software, discovered 11,097 new asteroids during the preliminary stage of the telescope's operation. This was reported on April 19 by Universe Today magazine.

"This first major work, presented after the Rubin First Look project, is just the tip of the iceberg, and it shows that the observatory is ready. What used to take years or decades, Rubin will be able to discover in a few months. We are starting to fulfill Rubin's promise to fundamentally change our understanding of the Solar System and open the doors to discoveries that we could not even imagine yet," said Mario Juric, a lecturer at the University of Washington and a leading researcher at the Rubin Solar System project.

The resulting data set contains information about 33 previously unknown near-Earth objects. The diameter of the largest of them is about 500 m. The scientists stressed that none of the discovered asteroids currently pose a threat to Earth. After reaching full power, the telescope is expected to help detect up to 90,000 new near-Earth objects, making it a key element of the planetary defense system.

The researchers also identified about 380 trans—Neptunian objects (TNOs), two of which - 2025 LS2 and 2025 MX348 — have extremely elongated orbits. At the farthest point, they are 1 thousand meters away. It is several times farther from the Sun than Earth, ranking among the 30 most distant known minor planets.

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"Rubin's unique observation schedule required a completely new software architecture for asteroid detection. We have developed it, and it works. Even with only preliminary engineering-quality data, Rubin discovered 11,000 asteroids and measured more precise orbits for tens of thousands of others. It seems quite obvious that this observatory will revolutionize our knowledge of the asteroid belt," said Ari Heinze, a researcher at the University of Washington.

According to Matthew Holman, the developer of detection algorithms, such objects allow us to study the most remote corners of the Solar system. The data obtained can shed light on the history of planetary movement and help in the search for the yet-to-be-discovered ninth major planet.

The Minor Planet Center (MPC) has already verified data on a new group of asteroids, making them available to the entire scientific community. Scientists expect that after the full launch of the ten-year LSST study, the observatory will detect a similar number of objects every two to three nights during the first few years of operation. This will triple the list of known asteroids and increase the number of known trans-Neptunian objects by almost 10 times.

Nikolai Zheleznov, a senior researcher at the Institute of Applied Astronomy (IPA) of the Russian Academy of Sciences, spoke on April 18 about the consequences of a collision between a large asteroid and the Earth. According to him, in the event of a collision, a large amount of sulfur and ash will be released into the stratosphere, which will cover the planet with a dust blanket. The expert emphasized that as a result, an analogue of a nuclear winter will appear for several years.