The James Webb Space Telescope has discovered an unusual asteroid located in the asteroid belt between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.
According to Science Alert, this new discovery is a previously unknown asteroid with a diameter of only 100 to 200 meters, making it one of the smallest objects ever detected by space telescopes in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.
Astronomer Thomas Müller from the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics in Germany noted that this was a completely unexpected finding, indicating that many previously invisible objects could potentially be discovered by James Webb.
Graphic depicting a “wanderer” in the asteroid belt – (Image: N. Bartmann/ESA/Webb, ESO/M. Kornmesser and S. Brunier, N. Risinger)
Initially, this team of scientists used James Webb’s data to search for a significantly larger asteroid in the Main Belt—an area filled with countless rocky bodies of various sizes drifting between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter—specifically (10929) 198 BC1, which was discovered in 1998 and has a diameter of 15.7 kilometers.
The observation aimed to study this larger asteroid more closely; however, it failed because James Webb was not aimed correctly at it, causing the target image to become overexposed.
Nevertheless, the research team managed to collect another “treasure,” the aforementioned small new asteroid. Discovering such a small object was previously considered impossible. Objects of similar size that pass close to Earth are often only detected a few days before their approach.
This highlights James Webb’s significant potential in studying new asteroids, as well as in Earth defense missions.
Researchers are still working to gain a better understanding before officially confirming and naming this newly found tiny asteroid, but initial results have been published in Astronomy & Astrophysics.
The James Webb Space Telescope, the most powerful space telescope in the world today, began its mission in 2022. It is primarily designed and operated by NASA, with contributions from the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA).
