'Planet Killer' Asteroid , Is Detected , in the Sun's Glare.<br />Scientists working in Chile at the Víctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope housed within the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory detected the asteroid.<br />They published a report on their findings on Oct. 31 in the 'The Astronomical Journal.'.<br />Our twilight survey is scouring the area within the orbits of Earth and Venus for asteroids, Scott S. Sheppard, Earth & Planets Laboratory of the Carnegie Institution for Science, via CNN.<br />So far we have found two large near-Earth asteroids that are about 1 kilometer across, a size that we call planet killers, Scott S. Sheppard, Earth & Planets Laboratory of the Carnegie Institution for Science, via CNN.<br />The orbit of asteroid 2022 AP7, one of the two "planet killer"-sized asteroids discovered, could potentially cross paths with Earth's orbit.<br />Asteroids of this size are <br />dubbed "planet killers" because impact <br />"would have a devastating impact on life as we know it.".<br />It would be a mass extinction event like hasn’t been seen on Earth in millions of years, Scott S. Sheppard, Earth & Planets Laboratory of the Carnegie Institution for Science, via CNN.<br />For now, scientists say the asteroid <br />"will stay well away from Earth.".<br />Discovering such asteroids is a complicated undertaking.<br />Deep images are needed because asteroids are faint. , Scott S. Sheppard, Earth & Planets Laboratory of the Carnegie Institution for Science, via CNN.<br />You are fighting the bright twilight sky near the Sun <br />as well as the distorting effect <br />of Earth’s atmosphere, Scott S. Sheppard, Earth & Planets Laboratory of the Carnegie Institution for Science, via CNN.<br />The researchers in Chile use a Dark Energy Camera (DECam), which makes the hunt for asteroids possible.<br />Our DECam survey is one of the largest and most sensitive searches ever performed for objects within Earth’s orbit, Scott S. Sheppard, Earth & Planets Laboratory of the Carnegie Institution for Science, via CNN.<br />This is a unique chance to understand what types of objects are lurking in the inner Solar System, Scott S. Sheppard, Earth & Planets Laboratory of the Carnegie Institution for Science, via CNN
