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Experts say Venus is hiding some asteroids that could potentially be deadly should they impact Earth.<\/p>\n
Venus currently has at least 20 co-orbital asteroids that have the potential to \u201capproach the Earth,\u201d according to a new study<\/a> published in the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics<\/em>.<\/p>\n The study from the University of S\u00e3o Paulo in Brazil, led by Valerio Carruba, said that some of these asteroids \u201ccan pose a collisional hazard to Earth.\u201d<\/p>\n In fact, the study stated that a number of these asteroids are \u201ccapable of numerous close encounters\u2014and perhaps collisions\u2014with Earth.\u201d\u00a0 One particular asteroid is even considered a potential \u201ccity-killer.\u201d<\/p>\n Gravitational shifts and other factors could cause many of these space rocks to be propelled toward Earth, according to the researchers.<\/p>\n But the study said these potentially dangerous asteroids can be hard to spot, making it more difficult to predict how they could potentially interact with the Earth.<\/p>\n Additionally, the experts said, “there are still undetected asteroids in the inner Solar System with the potential to cause significant damage to Earth.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhile surveys like those from the [Vera] Rubin Observatory may be able to detect some of these asteroids in the near future, we believe that only a dedicated observational campaign from a space-based mission near Venus could potentially map and discover all the still \u2018invisible\u2019 PHA [potentially hazardous asteroids] among Venus\u2019 co-orbital asteroids,\u201d the researchers said.<\/p>\n Never miss a story \u2014 sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter<\/a> to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.<\/strong><\/p>\n The Vera Rubin Observatory is expected to begin full operations in July 2025, according to Daily Galaxy<\/a>.<\/p>\n The observatory can help improve detection of these potentially-dangerous asteroids, but experts said the sun\u2019s positioning will only offer limited windows of time to do so.<\/p>\n Read the original article on People<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n