Scientists Use Technology Tool to Discover New Asteroids

Scientists have employed a new method to find more than 100 asteroids that had not been recognized before. The approach searches for asteroids that were previously undiscovered using a complicated computational process known as an algorithm. They couldn’t be found because existing telescopes and image analysis methods couldn’t detect them.Historically, NASA has identified asteroids and other near-Earth objects by using powerful ground-based telescopes and its NEOWISE spacecraft. NASA also utilizes tracking equipment to keep track on asteroids’ travels.

Scientists value the identification and tracking of near-Earth objects because some of them may pose a hazard to our planet. In light of this, NASA launched a spacecraft in November with the goal of demonstrating a viable defense system against asteroids that may endanger Earth. The Asteroid Institute, a non-profit organization located in the United States, just reported the finding of 104 new asteroids. In the following years, the group believes that the new asteroid search tool will lead to the discovery of many additional asteroids.

The B612 Foundation’s director is Ed Lu. He was also a NASA astronaut in the past. In a statement announcing the organization’s latest finding, he praised the new tool. “Understanding our solar system, allowing space development, and safeguarding our planet from asteroid strikes requires discovering and tracking asteroids,” Lu added. Asteroid Discovery Analysis and Mapping, or ADAM, is the name of the institute’s discovery tool. The method is used to “connect spots of light in distinct sky photographs that are compatible with asteroid orbits” in this system.

The technology has been taught to locate asteroids using existing data and to calculate their orbits well enough for international astronomical groups to recognize them. Lu claims that by combining the ADAM tool and the algorithm, “any telescope with an archive” may become an asteroid search telescope.