ASTEROID TRACKING

Keeping track of potentially hazardous asteroids is the task of NASA’S Planetary Defense Coordination

Office. This makes use of a network of observatories, both on the ground and in space, to scour the skies in search of asteroids that might present a threat to our planet. One of the most important of these facilities is Kitt Peak National Observatory in Arizona, which is home to the Spacewatch Project. This was originally established in 1980 as a general scientific study of asteroids – wherever they were in the Solar System – but more recently has become focused primarily on objects that might pose an impact hazard to Earth. Using a range of different telescopes, the Spacewatch team, together with research collaborators, have observed around 1,900 potentially hazardous asteroids – more than 80 per cent of all those discovered worldwide to date.

for Imaging of The Light Italian Cubesat prior to launch Asteroids (LICIACUBE) An artist’s impression of NASA’S DART spacecraft approaching Didymos and Dimorphos

Kitt Peak National Observatory is at the forefront of the search for PHAS