7/2/2023 0 Comments Nasa asteroid watch list![]() But you might ask "What size asteroid would cause a global catastrophe?"Īsteroids of 1 kilometer in size or larger have the potential of causing a global disaster if they were to hit the Earth. There are no asteroids and comets big enough to do that that come anywhere near our planet. No near-Earth object is large enough to potentially "destroy" Earth. As we get more data, we refine the trajectory calculations until we can conclusively rule out (or in) an impact with Earth. Therefore, we closely track near-Earth objects and precisely map their future trajectory to assess whether they can in fact come very close to Earth, and maybe even impact. ![]() However, some of these objects, called "near-Earth objects" (NEOs), follow orbits that could potentially bring them into the Earth's region of the solar system, and these ones need to be analyzed in more detail. For most objects, the orbit comes nowhere close to that of the Earth and we can quickly rule out any collision. Once an object is discovered, we use the tracking measurements to estimate its orbit around the sun. This is why NASA has funded large telescopes to scan the sky every night and discover as many asteroids and comets as possible. ![]() But we have to discover these objects first, and then track them. Fortunately, the motion of asteroids and comets is quite predictable and we should be able to determine if any of them are on a collision course with Earth many years in advance. asteroids, or comets, is on a collision course with Earth?īy discovering as many asteroids and comets as possible, as early as possible, and assessing where they are going. Davide Farnocchia is a navigation engineer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and scientist for the Center for Near-Earth Object Studies, which is managed by JPL for NASA's Planetary Defense Coordination Office. ![]()
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