NASA awards $ 15 million for asteroid hunting telescopes in Maui

Pan-STARS1 and Pan-STARS2 telescopes on Haleakalā. (Photo credit: Jason Chu)

The University of Hawaii Institute of Astronomy (If a) received a $ 15 million grant from NASA to continue its cutting-edge efforts to discover near-Earth objects (NEOs) and potentially dangerous asteroids (PLHIVs). If aPanoramic survey telescope and rapid response system (Pan-STARS) at the top of Haleakalā currently find almost as many NEOsand PLHIVIt’s like the rest of the world’s observatories combined, and nearly 60% of the largest and most dangerous with sizes greater than 140 meters in diameter (459 feet).

asteroid
In July 2020, Pan-STARS discovered the asteroid 2020 OO1 near Earth which was expected to approach closely.

“Pan-STARS The team has had a huge impact on astronomy with a multitude of discoveries from the solar system to cosmology, ”said Ken Chambers, If a Pan- astronomer and principal investigatorSTARS. “These include the discovery of thousands of near-Earth objects, hundreds of Kuiper Belt objects, dozens of comets, as well as ‘Oumuamua– the first interstellar object. This Nasa This grant will allow us to continue our mission of protecting Earth from catastrophic asteroid impacts as we scan the skies for anything that moves and anything that explodes at night.

Pan-STARS the data is available worldwide and has become the photometric standard for astronomical research. The grant will support operations and research for the next three years for Pan-STARS‘Investigation of a large area of ​​potentially dangerous objects. Pan-STARS system consists of the Pan-STARS1 (PS1) and Pan-STARS2 (PS2) telescopes on Haleakalā; their massive 1.4 and 1.5 gigapixel cameras, currently the world’s two largest astronomical cameras, and a huge computing cluster at EUH Manoa.

Hawaii astronomy plays a fundamental role in planetary defense

In July 2020, Pan-STARS discovered a near-Earth asteroid, 2020 OO1, which makes about two school buses. Due to its expected close passage from Earth, Nasa issued a notification that led to telescopes around the world, including those at Maunakea, to help with rapid follow-up observations to verify the asteroid’s orbit and determine if it was possibly dangerous. On its closest approach on July 27, the asteroid, about 20 meters in diameter, passed close to Earth, about 1.7 times the distance from the Moon. With both the PS1 and PS2 telescopes operational on Maui, the area of ​​sky studied for NEOs every night has now doubled.

Pan-STARS The survey data archive is one of the most widely used archives in astronomy.

This work is an example of EUH Mānoa’s research excellence goal: to advance the research and creative work enterprise (PDF), one of the four objectives identified in the 2015-25 Strategic Plan (PDF), updated in December 2020.

About Johnnie Gross

Check Also

Sun-like star discovered orbiting closest black hole to Earth

Imagine if our Sun were orbiting a black hole, perhaps spiraling into it. Admittedly, the …

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.