Astronomers from Liège detect some of the smallest asteroids ever

An international team including astronomers from the University of Liège has detected 138 new asteroids, around ten metres in diameter, in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.

These are the smallest asteroids ever detected in this region, with significant implications for asteroid populations and planetary defence, according to a study published on Monday in the journal Nature.

The newly discovered space rocks range in size from a bus to several hundred metres.

This discovery was made possible through an innovative analysis of archived infrared images, initially intended for studying the exoplanetary system TRAPPIST-1 and collected by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST).

Most known asteroids orbit in the main belt between Mars and Jupiter, at an average distance of about 250 million kilometres from Earth.

Approximately 750,000 asteroids have been counted since the first one was discovered in 1801, most of which measure over a kilometre in diameter, with Vesta holding the record at around 530 kilometres in diameter.

Occasionally, some of these asteroids are ejected towards Earth by the gravitational influence of Mars and Jupiter, becoming what are known as near-Earth asteroids.

The current estimated number of these near-Earth asteroids is 35,000, and this number continues to rise.

Many of these asteroids have collided with Earth and other planets in the past, significantly impacting the geological history of planets and the evolution of life on Earth.

Today, they are actively sought out and studied as part of planetary defence initiatives.

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