Asteroid evades tracking and is detected only after hitting Earth

A celestial object constantly monitored by various observatories and space agencies reached Earth’s atmosphere last month, just a few hours after it was detected. This means that it somehow managed to evade tracking systems during an asteroid’s approach.

Although the object, about 10 feet in diameter, burned up over the Pacific Ocean near California, the short time between its detection and impact with the atmosphere suggests that tracking systems at the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Near-Earth Object Coordination Center were working. /NEO) “eat flies” and big ones.

This was the 10th asteroid impact discovered by telescopes just minutes before it hit our planet. The 2024 UQ event was discovered by the Asteroid Terrestrial Impact Latest Warning System (ATLAS) in Hawaii on October 22. This year is the third time.

How was the asteroid transit monitored?

In its latest bulletin, ESA states that the ATLAS survey has managed to detect “a small object on a high-probability collision course” through one of its four telescopes. “However, due to the object’s location near the edge of two adjacent fields, The candidate was recognized as a moving object just a few hours later”” he finishes.

Simply put, this means that the effect is already occurring by the time the astrometry flashes are captured by tracking systems. Two other systems, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) GOES weather satellites and NASA’s Catalina Sky Survey project, are also catching the asteroid, albeit belatedly.

Two more asteroids were detected ahead of the 2024 UQ, just hours after hitting Earth this year. The first of these was 2024 BX1, also a meter wide, which burned up in the skies over Berlin, Germany, in January. The other, 2024 RW1, exploded over the Philippines on September 4.

Tracking space rocks

Cataloging not only imminent impacts, but also asteroids and comets as close to Earth as possible has been a top priority for space agencies worldwide. In addition to ATLAS, Catalina Sky, NEOCC and other surveys, NASA is preparing its new infrared telescope, known as NEO Surveyor, with some improved capabilities to search for potentially dangerous near-Earth objects.

However, in the case of giant rocks, such as the asteroid 99942 Apophis, simple detection and tracking are often inadequate. Known as the “God of Chaos” due to its diameter of 340 meters This “Mount Everest” traveling at a speed of 108 thousand km per hour It will pass just 31 thousand km from the Earth’s surface on April 14, 2029 (we hope!).

That’s why some institutions are testing ways to redirect these upcoming giants if necessary. In September 2022, NASA’s DART mission collided with one of these impactors and managed to change the orbit of asteroid Dimorphos. China is also preparing its own mission to deflect an asteroid by 2030.

NEO Surveyor: asteroid hunter

The Near-Earth Object (NEO) Surveyor, which can be translated into Portuguese as Near-Earth Object Observer, is the first space telescope. Specially designed to hunt asteroids and comets NASA’s website states that this could pose potential risks to Earth.

Its distinguishing feature is its ability to scan the Solar System with its ultra-sensitive infrared detectors. With this, it will be able to track some of the most difficult objects to locate near Earth, either because of their orbits or because they are barely visible at common wavelengths.

According to the American space agency, “NEO Surveyor will find asteroids and comets that other space missions cannot find,” increasing humanity’s ability to detect these threatening “neighbors.”

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