Meet 2021 PH27, a newly discovered asteroid with the shortest known year!

Astronomers have discovered a new and odd asteroid: Called 2021 PH27, it orbits the Sun on the shortest orbit ever seen for any asteroid, taking it closer to the Sun than Mercury and only a little bit farther out than Venus!

It gets within a mere 20 million kilometers from the Sun at closest approach, which is less than 1/7th the Earth’s distance, and less than half Mercury’s closest solar distance. At farthest on its elliptical path it gets about 118 million km from the Sun.

Astronomers chara...