Asteroids near Venus could devastate Earth and remain invisible to telescopes

Space is full of hazards, but the most worrying are the ones escaping our view. New research indicates a swarm of asteroids may be sharing Venus’ orbit — largely hidden from Earth — and some are big enough to cause city-scale devastation if they ever cross paths with our planet.

Scientists call these objects “co-orbitals” because they travel around the Sun on trajectories tied to Venus. Their proximity to the Sun and chaotic paths make them especially hard to detect from ground-based observatories, creating a blind spot in planetary defense that researchers are racing to map.

Hidden neighbors of Venus: what researchers have found

A team led by Valerio Carruba at São Paulo State University used computer simulations and available observations to show that the known sample of Venus co-orbitals is likely just the tip of the iceberg. While astronomers have officially cataloged about two dozen of these bodies, the models point to a far larger population lurking near the planet’s orbital path.

These co-orbitals don’t move like the predictable planets. Some lead Venus, some trail it, and others execute complex, looping motions that weave across the planet’s course. Because their motion is sensitive to small perturbations, long-term orbital forecasts become unreliable beyond a century or two. In the words of the researchers, this makes the population both difficult to follow and potentially hazardous over longer timescales.

How serious is the threat? Size, energy and potential impact

Not all co-orbitals are dangerous, but several are large enough to matter. Models suggest objects roughly the size of a few hundred meters could produce catastrophic regional effects if they struck Earth.

• Energy release: An impact by a ~300-meter object would release energy measured in the hundreds of megatons — orders of magnitude above most nuclear detonations.
• Local destruction: Such an impact could carve out a crater several kilometers across and devastate nearby cities and infrastructure.
• Wider consequences: Blast waves, fires and atmospheric dust could cause long-lasting damage beyond the immediate strike zone.

Why these asteroids are almost invisible to us

The main problem for detection is geometry. Venus orbits closer to the Sun than Earth does, so any asteroid sharing Venus’ path usually sits between us and the Sun or very close to the solar glare. From the ground that translates into extremely low solar elongation — they appear close to the Sun’s bright disk and are easily washed out.

Large, ground-based surveys like the upcoming Vera Rubin Observatory will dramatically improve discovery rates for many classes of asteroids, but even Rubin will only have short twilight windows to catch objects near the inner edge of the Solar System. In practice, that leaves many co-orbitals observable for only a few minutes or hours at a time, if at all.

Detection challenges at a glance

• Low elongation makes objects hard to see against sunlight.
• Short, unpredictable visibility windows limit follow-up observations.
• Chaotic orbits reduce the accuracy of long-term predictions.
• Current ground surveys are optimized for objects outside Earth’s orbit, not inside it.

Space-based solutions: how scientists propose to fill the gap

Because the Sun’s glare is the key obstacle, many researchers favor putting telescopes in space, where observations can be made from angles impossible on Earth. Two main approaches are gaining traction:

• Infrared space telescopes: Missions like NASA’s NEO Surveyor are designed to spot near-Earth objects by their heat signatures, which works well even for dark bodies and objects close to the Sun’s direction.
• Observatories closer to Venus: A platform stationed interior to Earth’s orbit or near Venus could monitor co-orbitals directly, leaving Earth-based blind spots behind.

Both strategies would expand our ability to detect and track inner Solar System objects well before they posed an imminent threat, improving the lead time needed for any potential mitigation effort.

Tracking what we know now and the limits ahead

Of the roughly 20 co-orbitals currently cataloged, many have orbits that appear stable only on century-long timescales. Beyond those horizons, gravitational nudges from planets — plus small effects like sunlight-driven forces — can push them into very different paths. That unpredictability is part of what makes the population worrisome: an object benign today could become an Earth-crosser several decades from now.

Researchers stress that knowing the size and behavior of this population is essential to planetary defense. Better surveys, more computing power for dynamical models, and new space missions are the tools being discussed to close this gap.

For now, the reality is clear: we have identified some of these inner-Solar-System neighbors and know a number are large enough to be dangerous, but our capacity to see them is limited. That uncertainty is a notable vulnerability in our efforts to protect the planet from natural cosmic hazards.

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William Anderson

William Anderson is a multimedia producer specializing in videos, podcasts, and interactive galleries. With five years of immersive content creation, he turns information into a rich audio‑visual experience. His storytelling skills draw you directly into the heart of every story, on any platform.