Astronomers should never think that ignorance is bliss when the stake is represented by the fate of the entire world. They sure need to know about any dangerous asteroid approaching our planet, if there is any out there.
Many scientists believe that it can only be a matter of time until a new asteroid or comet will threaten the mere existence of all life forms on Earth once again. It happened roughly 60 million years ago when the dinosaurs got extinct, so it might happen again, they say. But hopefully, the technology of the future will be advanced enough to allow humanity to get rid of such a huge cosmic threat.
Asteroid Day is the annual event celebrated on June 30
It’s Asteroid Day tomorrow, June 30. The event means a global effort to raise awareness about the threat posed by asteroids, as well as their relevance to science.
According to syfy.com, THOR is granting humanity higher chances of finding those dangerous asteroids that could approach our beloved planet. No, we’re not talking about the powerful and arrogant god who got kicked out of Asgard. THOR, in our case, stands for Tracket-less Heliocentric Orbit Recovery. This method can speed up the searching process for those asteroids tremendously. It also involves the possibility of using archived images for the search itself.
THOR is basically an advanced software built by the non-governmental space organization known as the Asteroid Institute. THOR has already been proven to be very efficient, as it computed more than 1,300 potential asteroids. Comparing them to the asteroid catalog of the International Astronomical Union’s Minor Planet Center, 104 objects were confirmed as new discoveries.
Dr. Ed Lu, who is Executive Director of Asteroid Institute, said in a press release:
Discovering and tracking asteroids is crucial to understanding our solar system, enabling the development of space, and protecting our planet from asteroid impacts,
With THOR, any telescope with an archive can now become an asteroid search telescope.
Let’s just hope that astronomers won’t find any “Chicxulub 2.0” asteroid, with or without any advanced gear.
