Venus is hiding a secret population of space rocks

Space · Published 22 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: While most asteroids reside in the main belt between Mars and Jupiter, a mysterious group co-orbits Venus. These objects are currently difficult to detect because they can be obscured by the sun's glare, yet they represent a growing priority for planetary defense.

Most of our knowledge regarding asteroid threats focuses on objects that orbit the sun independently or reside in the main belt. However, astronomers have identified a specific class of co-orbital asteroids—objects that share an orbit with a planet rather than just orbiting the sun. While Jupiter Trojans are well-known examples of this phenomenon, research is now turning toward Venus. Currently, only 20 of these Venus co-orbital asteroids are known to exist.

The challenge in tracking these objects lies in their observability. Because they share an orbit with Venus, they can be hidden within the sun's glare, making them resistant to standard detection methods. Their visibility depends heavily on specific observational windows and how their brightness fluctuates as they move. This difficulty means that a significant population of these asteroids may remain undetected despite current monitoring efforts.

From a planetary defense perspective, co-orbital status is a double-edged sword. While it protects these asteroids from close approaches to Venus, it does not shield them from potentially encountering Earth. An object qualifies as a Potentially Hazardous Asteroid (PHA) if its size exceeds roughly 140 metres and it enters 0.05 astronomical units (au) of our planet's path. Researchers are now working to assess the collisional hazard posed by this 'invisible' population, noting that only one of the 20 known Venus co-orbiters has an orbital eccentricity below 0.38.

This shift in focus reflects a broader evolution in space surveillance. Two decades prior, the American legislature tasked NASA with locating 90% of asteroids near Earth that endanger us—particularly those reaching 1.3 au from our world. As technology improves and we look closer at planetary neighbors, the scope of what constitutes a 'threat' is expanding to include these hidden co-orbital residents.

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