The asteroid 2024 YR4 made the headlines in February with the news that it had a chance to hit the earth on December 22, 2032, as determined by an analysis of the center of NASA for studies of objects close to the earth (CNEO) at the agency’s laboratory jet in southern California. The probability of collision culminated more than 3% on February 18 – the highest ever recorded for an object of its size. This aroused concerns about the damage that the asteroid could make if he was hitting the earth.
The new data collected in the following days have lowered the probability of many by less than 1%, and 2024 YR4 is no longer considered as a potential land impactor. However, the event highlighted the importance of monitoring asteroid populations to reveal possible threats to earth. Largely share scientific data Allows scientists to determine the risk posed by the population of asteroids in near land and increases the chances of identifying the future risks of the impact of asteroids in the scientific data of NASA.
“The Planetary Defense Community achieves the value of the provision of data products available to everyone,” said James “Gerbs” Bauer, the main investigator of NASA Planetary Data Data System Node Node at the University of Maryland in College Park, Maryland.
Professional scientists and citizen scientists around the world play a role in monitoring asteroids. The Minor Planet Center, which is housed at the astrophysical observatory of the Smithsonian in Cambridge, Massachusetts, collects and verifies a large number of observations in the position of asteroids and comets subjected from the whole world. The node of the small bodies of NASA distributes the data of the Minor Planet Center for all those who wish to access and use it.
An object close to the earth (NEO) is an asteroid or a comet whose orbit takes it to less than 120 million miles of the sun, which means that it can circulate in the orbital district of the earth. If a newly discovered object seems to be a NEO, information on the object appears on the minor Planet Center Neo confirmation page. The members of the community of planetary sciences, whether or not professional scientists are encouraged to follow these objects to discover where they are heading.
When the trajectory of an asteroid seems worrying, Cneos alerts NASA Planetary Defense Coordination Office At the NASA seat in Washington, which manages the continuous efforts of NASA to protect the land against dangerous asteroids. The NASA planetary defense coordination office also coordinates the International Asteroid Warning Network (IAWN), which is the global collaboration of asteroid observers and model makers.
Orbit analysis centers such as CNEOs make finer calculations to nail the probability that an asteroid collide with the earth. The open nature of the data allows the community to collaborate and compare, guaranteeing the most precise determinations possible.
The asteroid 2024 YR4 was initially discovered by the Atlas funded by NASA (Asteroid terrestrial impact alert system) Survey, which aims to discover potentially dangerous asteroids. Scientists have studied additional data on the asteroids of different observatories funded by NASA and other telescopes across the RIE.
At the beginning, 2024 years old had a large uncertainty in its future trajectory which passed on earth. While the community of planetary defense has collected more observations, the range of possibilities for the future position of the asteroid on December 22, 2032 gathered on earth, which increases the apparent chances of collision. However, with the addition of data points even more, the group of possibilities is finally far from the earth.
Having several data flows available for analysis helps scientists learn more about NEOs. This sometimes involves using observatory data that is mainly used for astrophysical or heliophysical surveys, rather than monitoring asteroids.
“The Planetary Defense Community benefits both and is beneficial for the wider ecosystem linked to astronomy,” said Bauer, who is also a research teacher in the Astronomy Department of the University of Maryland. “A large part of the NEO survey data can also be used to search for astrophysical transients such as supernova events. Likewise, surveys on astrophysical sky produce data of interest in the community of planetary defense. ”
In 2022, the NASA dart (Double asteroid redirection test) The mission had an impact successfully with the asteroid dimorphos, shortening the time it takes in orbit around its asteroid companion Didymos of 33 minutes. Didymos had no chance of hitting the earth, but the success of the Dart mission means that NASA has a technique tested to consider when it is addressed to a future threat of potential impact of asteroids.
To increase the chances of discovering threats of asteroids well in advance, NASA works on a new space observatory, Neo-asswhich will be the first space vessel specially designed to search for asteroids and comets that have a danger for the earth. The mission should be launched in the fall of 2027, and the data it collects will be available for everyone through NASA archives.
“Many Neo who present a risk for the land remain to be found,” said Bauer. “An impact on asteroids has a very low probability at any time, but the consequences could be high, and open science is an important element to be vigilant.”
For more information on the NASA approach to share scientific data, visit:
https://science.nasa.gov/open-science.
By Lauren Leese
Web content strategist for Bureau of the scientific data chief