Astronomers have uncovered a remarkable new space rock — a fast-moving asteroid that’s been hiding dangerously close to the Sun and Earth. Named 2025 SC79, this near-Earth asteroid was recently discovered by astronomer Scott S. Sheppard from the Carnegie Institution for Science, revealing a mysterious new member of our inner solar system.
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A Rare Discovery Hidden in the Sun’s Glare
Most telescopes on Earth can’t look too close to the Sun because of its overwhelming brightness. That’s why objects like 2025 SC79 are so difficult to spot — their faint light gets drowned in the solar glare.
To detect it, astronomers used the Dark Energy Camera on the 4-meter Blanco Telescope in Chile. This highly sensitive instrument was designed to capture faint objects near the Sun, sometimes called “twilight asteroids.” After its initial discovery, astronomers quickly confirmed it using the Gemini Observatory and Magellan Telescopes, ensuring that this was indeed a brand-new asteroid — and a special one.
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What Makes 2025 SC79 So Unique
Unlike most asteroids that orbit between Mars and Jupiter, 2025 SC79 stays completely inside Earth’s orbit. It even spends much of its time within Venus’s orbit, making it part of a very rare group known as Atira asteroids (also called Interior-to-Earth Objects).
What’s even more fascinating is its lightning-fast journey around the Sun. It completes one full orbit in just 128 days, giving it the third-shortest orbital period of any known asteroid.
To put it simply, while Earth takes a full year to circle the Sun, this small rock does it in a little over four months.
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☀️ A Survivor in Extreme Solar Heat
Because it travels so close to the Sun, 2025 SC79 endures extreme temperatures and radiation that few objects can survive for long. Studying it could give scientists valuable insights into how rocky bodies form and evolve near the Sun’s blazing heat.
Asteroids like this are believed to be remnants from the early solar system, leftover building blocks that never became planets. Understanding their makeup can help researchers trace the history of our inner solar system — including how Earth and Venus came to be.
When 2025 SC79 re-emerges from behind the Sun in a few months, astronomers plan to use large telescopes to study its composition and surface properties. Its survival so close to the Sun could reveal clues about how materials behave under intense solar radiation — something we still don’t fully understand.
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Could It Pose a Danger to Earth?
The asteroid is estimated to be around 700 meters wide — large enough to cause catastrophic damage on a continental scale if it ever struck our planet. Thankfully, current observations show that it poses no immediate threat to Earth.
Still, astronomers emphasize that finding such asteroids is vital for planetary defense. Many potentially hazardous objects approach Earth from the direction of the Sun — making them almost invisible to ground-based telescopes until it’s too late.
Discoveries like 2025 SC79 highlight why scientists are working to improve “twilight” surveys — specialized programs that search for asteroids in the bright skies near sunrise and sunset, where ordinary telescopes can’t see.
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Why This Discovery Matters
The discovery of 2025 SC79 isn’t just another asteroid announcement — it’s a step forward in understanding a hidden population of near-Sun asteroids. These space rocks could fill in missing pieces of the puzzle about how the solar system evolved and how many unseen objects might still be lurking in the Sun’s glare.
As Scott Sheppard noted in the Carnegie Science press release, every new discovery near the Sun helps refine our models of asteroid populations and improves our ability to predict future threats.
In the coming months, scientists hope to capture more data about 2025 SC79’s orbit, surface makeup, and thermal properties. Such research could eventually lead to better ways to detect and track other hard-to-see asteroids — a key goal in protecting Earth from potential impacts.
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The Bottom Line
Asteroid 2025 SC79 is a rare and exciting find — a hidden traveler circling the Sun faster than almost any other known asteroid. Discovered in one of the most challenging regions of space to observe, it reminds us that even in our own cosmic neighborhood, there’s still much left to uncover.
With new technologies and dedicated astronomers pushing the limits of observation, discoveries like this will continue to reshape what we know about the solar system — and how we safeguard our planet within it.
Source:
Scott S. Sheppard et al., “Fast-moving asteroid found in Sun’s glare”, Carnegie Science Press Release, 2025