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Rubin Observatory’s Stunning Result Proves It’s a ‘Game Changer’ for Spotting Dangerous Asteroids
The freshly minted telescope has made its first 10 hours of test observations, and the results are nothing short of astonishing. In just that brief period, it has discovered over 2,000 previously unknown asteroids, including seven near-Earth asteroids. None of these newly found objects pose a threat to Earth’s safety, but the data gathered by Rubin Observatory is a game-changer for asteroid hunters working on planetary defense.
The observatory will allow scientists to find and track more space rocks than ever before, enabling unprecedentedly fast and detailed surveys of the entire southern sky. According to Richard Binzel, a professor of planetary sciences at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and inventor of the Torino Scale, “As this camera system was being designed, we all knew it was going to be breathtaking in what it delivered, but this has exceeded all our expectations.”
The data on those 2,000 new asteroids went directly to the International Astronomical Union’s Minor Planet Center (MPC), the globally recognized organization responsible for cataloging and disseminating data on asteroids, comets, and other small celestial bodies. It plays an essential role in the early detection and monitoring of asteroids that threaten Earth.
The MPC has spent years preparing for the deluge of data from Rubin, ramping up its software to process massive amounts of observations. When the first round officially came flooding in on Monday, it was “nerve-racking and exciting simultaneously,” Matthew Payne, MPC director, told Gizmodo.
This is just a taste of what’s to come. In a few months, Rubin will begin the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST), a decade-long, near-continuous survey of the southern sky. This will produce an ultrawide, ultra-high-definition time-lapse record of the universe.
Source: gizmodo.com
