Announcement of discovery of micro-asteroid population in the Solar System

A Belgian reporter said that an astronomical research team at the University of Liège in Belgium and international colleagues have just announced the discovery of a population of 138 smallest asteroids ever recorded between Mars and Jupiter. These are celestial bodies with a diameter of only about 10 meters, the smallest group ever observed in the asteroid belt area.

The discovery was made using NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) , an instrument with extreme sensitivity to infrared light. The images were originally taken to study the Trappist exoplanet system, but upon re-analysis, they yielded an unexpected result: a previously unknown asteroid population.

Despite their small size, asteroids and celestial bodies still pose great risks. (Illustration photo).

Previously, only asteroids larger than 1km in diameter could be detected and recorded in the main belt, said Emmanuel Jehin, a planetary scientist at the University of Liège. The discovery of small asteroids helps us better understand the origins of meteorites that fall to Earth and improve our ability to protect the planet from threats from space.

Despite their small size, asteroids pose a significant risk, especially when they are thrown off their stable orbits by the gravity of Mars and Jupiter. There are an estimated 50 million 1-meter-wide asteroids in space, with one hitting Earth every two weeks on average. For larger asteroids, those measuring about 10 meters in diameter, the risk of impact is reduced but still occurs on average once every decade.

Marco Micheli, an expert at the European Space Agency (ESA), said that thanks to JWST, scientists can accurately calculate the orbits of these asteroids from very far away, helping to improve the ability to predict and respond to threats.

This discovery opens up new possibilities for protecting Earth. Scientists have developed methods to alter the orbits of potentially impacting bodies, such as a recent successful experiment on an actual asteroid. However, most of these efforts have focused on large asteroids, while smaller asteroids – which make up the vast majority – have received little attention.

The team believes that the newly discovered asteroids may have unique characteristics. Some have the potential to become near-Earth objects, and may even be 'Trojans' - asteroids that orbit Jupiter.

Thomas Müller, a researcher at the Max-Planck Institute (Germany), said that data from JWST not only helps detect small asteroids, but also opens the door to understanding how they form and survive through space collisions.

Julien de Wit, a researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), said the team was surprised to find that the number of asteroids discovered far exceeded their initial predictions. According to him, this suggests that they are approaching a new population of asteroids, formed from successive collisions in the universe.

These results demonstrate the great potential of the James Webb Telescope in exploring the universe and protecting the 'blue planet' .