A swarm of large asteroids likely lurking around Venus could one day pose an "invisible threat" to Earth if left unchecked, astronomers have warned in new research.
The giant space rocks are believed to be traveling in tandem with Venus as the planet orbits the sun, eluding our detection by staying hidden in the sun's glare. Because their orbits are unstable, a possibility exists – however remote – that the asteroids could break off from their trajectory and one day head on a collision course for Earth.
The findings are just the latest instance in which asteroids have gotten some ominous publicity in 2025. Earlier this year, an asteroid dubbed 2024 YR4 became infamous when astronomers briefly calculated a historically high chance of it impacting Earth.
In that case, there was no reason to panic: YR4 was ultimately ruled out as a threat. And there's probably no cause for alarm in this latest case, either.
Rather, the team of researchers led by Valerio Carruba, an assistant professor at São Paolo University in Brazil, simply hopes to raise awareness among astronomers and attract more scientific interest in the asteroids.
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