Venus doesn’t have any moons. But it does share its orbit around the Sun. Astronomers have discovered 20 asteroids known as “co-orbitals,” but there could be many more. These big space rocks follow roughly the same path as Venus. But they won’t stay in that lane forever. And when they leave it, they could threaten Earth.
These objects are nudged along by the gravity of Venus and the Sun. They generally stay well ahead of or behind Venus. Only one follows exactly the same orbit as the planet. The others move in and out a bit, getting closer to the Sun, then moving farther away.
Over the long term, though, their orbits aren’t stable, so they can break free and head elsewhere. A recent study found that of the 20 known objects, six could threaten Earth within the next 12,000 years. And three of them are especially dangerous. All three are at least a thousand feet in diameter, so they could cause major damage if they hit our planet.
A study also found that there could be many more of these Venus groupies. They stay so close to the Sun in our sky that they’re hard to see through the solar glare. And they move quickly, making them even harder to find. But a new telescope in Chile might pick out some of them – helping us find potential threats far in advance.
Look for Venus near the Moon in the dawn sky tomorrow. It’s the brilliant “morning star,” so you can’t miss it.
Tomorrow: an autumn meteor shower.
Script by Damond Benningfield

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