Researchers at the Minor Planet Institute have unveiled a new asteroid tracking tool.
About 65 million years ago, a deadly asteroid wiped out the dinosaurs.
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To prevent another disaster of this magnitude, scientists are taking extra care when tracking near-Earth asteroids.
But the task is daunting because rocky space objects are hard to spot.
However, two researchers from the B612 Foundation’s Minor Planet Institute might make it a little easier.
Former NASA astronaut Ed Lu and D612 president Danica Remy recently developed a game-changing asteroid tracking tool.
The tool, called THOR, contains an algorithm that compares the points of light in the night sky to determine the trajectory of individual asteroids.
This type of system can be classified as Asteroid Discovery Analysis and Mapping, or ADAM.
The tool has discovered 104 asteroids using the ADAM system, according to a new statement from the Minor Planet Institute.
“Unlike current state-of-the-art algorithms, THOR does not require telescopes to view the sky in a specific pattern in order to spot asteroids,” the statement read.
“Researchers can now begin systematically exploring large datasets that were previously inaccessible to asteroid discovery.”
In addition, THOR is able to identify asteroids and, perhaps most notably, calculates their orbits well enough to be recognized as asteroids by the asteroid center.
“The amazing thing regarding THOR is that it realizes that out of all these asteroids, this one in one image, one in another image four nights later, and another one seven nights later , are all the same object that can be put together as a true asteroid trajectory,” Lu said.
“It shows how important computing is in astronomy. What drives this is computing becoming so powerful, so cheap and ubiquitous.”
For the initial demonstration of THOR, the researchers sifted through billions of images taken between 2012 and 2019 from telescopes managed by the National Optical Astronomy Observatory.
Many of the images the system will use in the future will also be taken by government-funded telescopes.
However, it’s important to note that this tool is not a federally funded project, but is made possible through donations from private donors and organizations.
Just last Friday, B612 announced that it has received $1.3 million in funding for its ADAM asteroid detection platform.
It also received a $1 million gift-matching grant from Tito’s Handmade Vodka.
“Asteroids do hit Earth, and at some point, they do,” Lu said.
“For a little money, you can literally change the future of the world.”
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