Detecting asteroids has the least number of days in the year

Astronomers at the California Institute of Technology have discovered an unusual small planet, with the shortest "five" ever known for a planet.

According to a Caltech publication on July 8, this stone planet, named 2019 LF6 , is only about 1 km in size and a rotation around the Sun lasts only 151 days.

Description of an artist about an asteroid.(Photo: space.com).

A postdoctoral researcher at Caltech, Ye Quanzhi said LF6 is unusual both in trajectory and size. In its orbit, the planet 2019 LF6 moves through Venus (Venus) and is closer to the Sun than Mercury (Mercury).

2019 LF6 is one of only 20 "Atira" asteroids, the orbiting planet orbiting the Sun completely within the Earth's orbit. LF6 was discovered through the advanced camera ZTF at Palomar Observation Station, can scan the whole sky every night to find passing objects, such as exploding stars and moving asteroids.

In order to detect Atira asteroids, the ZTF team has been keen to conduct a close-up campaign called Twilight, in a period of only 20-30 minutes before the Sun rises or after the Sun sets, the most suitable capital. to observe asteroids.

In addition to the Atira asteroids, ZTF has also discovered about 100 asteroids near Earth and about 2,000 asteroids orbiting the Main Belt, orbiting Mars (Mars). and Jupiter (Jupiter).