NASA Predicted Giant Asteroid May Strike Earth
Summary
TLDRThe video discusses the potential threat of asteroids, particularly focusing on the near-Earth object Bennu, which could collide with Earth in 2182. It highlights the importance of monitoring these celestial bodies and the challenges in observing them due to the sun's glare and Earth's atmosphere. The Dark Energy Camera is introduced as a tool for detecting asteroids in the inner solar system.
Takeaways
- 🚀 Hundreds of millions of rocks, known as asteroids, orbit the sun within the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.
- 🌍 NASA classifies asteroids that orbit within 30 million miles of Earth as Near-Earth Objects (NEOs), with some posing significant threats.
- 👀 NASA is closely monitoring an asteroid named Bennu, which has a potential to collide with Earth in 159 years.
- 🏙️ Asteroid Bennu is considered a 'potentially hazardous asteroid' due to its size and close proximity to Earth, even though the current risk of collision is low.
- 🔬 Bennu, a carbon-rich asteroid, is believed to hold precious clues to the origin and development of the rocky planets in our solar system.
- 🛰️ In 2012, NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission successfully touched the surface of Bennu to collect samples, marking the first mission of its kind.
- 👀 Another asteroid of concern is 99942 Apophis, which was initially identified as one of the most dangerous asteroids ever detected.
- 🛡️ After careful examination, astronomers have ruled out the risk of Apophis colliding with Earth for at least a century.
- 💥 The impact of an asteroid larger than 0.6 miles across can be catastrophic, hence the importance of tracking and understanding their orbits.
- 🔍 Detecting and tracking asteroids is crucial for planetary defense, yet our capabilities are not yet fully developed.
- 🌌 The Dark Energy Camera at the Cerro Tololo Interamerican Observatory in Chile is being repurposed to aid in the search for near-Earth asteroids.
Q & A
What is the asteroid belt and where is it located?
-The asteroid belt is a region in our solar system that contains hundreds of millions of rocks, located between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.
What does NASA define as a near-Earth object?
-NASA classifies asteroids that orbit within 30 million miles of our planet as near-Earth objects (NEOs).
Why is the asteroid named Bennu of particular concern to NASA?
-Bennu is of concern because it is a fairly large asteroid with a potential to collide with Earth in 159 years, as per expert estimates.
What is the estimated date of a possible collision between Bennu and Earth?
-If a collision occurs, it might happen on the 24th of September, 2182.
How does the size of asteroid Bennu compare to a well-known structure on Earth?
-Asteroid Bennu is thought to be taller than the Empire State Building.
What is a gravitational keyhole and why is it significant in the context of asteroid Bennu?
-A gravitational keyhole is a region of space that could set an asteroid on a certain path, potentially resulting in a collision with Earth. Bennu has a tiny chance of passing through such a keyhole during its flyby in the 22nd century.
What is the current estimated probability of Bennu impacting Earth by 2182?
-The current estimated probability of Bennu hitting Earth by 2182 is 1 in 2700.
What is the significance of asteroid Bennu being carbon-rich and how does it relate to the origin of life?
-Bennu being carbon-rich is significant as it may contain organic molecules similar to those crucial for life to evolve, providing precious clues to the origin and development of rocky planets in our solar system.
What is the OSIRIS-REx mission and what did it achieve?
-OSIRIS-REx is a NASA mission that managed to briefly touch the surface of asteroid Bennu, collect samples, and propel them off the space rock for further study.
Why is it important to detect and track asteroids larger than 460 feet in diameter?
-Asteroids larger than 460 feet in diameter are large enough to wipe out an entire city if they impact Earth, making their detection and tracking crucial for planetary defense.
What challenges do astronomers face when searching for asteroids in the inner solar system?
-Astronomers face challenges such as the sun's glare creating a bright background glow and Earth's atmosphere distorting observations, making it difficult to spot faint asteroids near the sun.
How does the Dark Energy Camera help in the search for asteroids in the inner solar system?
-The Dark Energy Camera, designed for wide and deep observations, helps astronomers fight the bright twilight sky and the distorting effect of Earth's atmosphere, making it well-suited for spotting faint asteroids near the sun.
Outlines
🚀 Asteroid Threats and NASA's Monitoring Efforts
This paragraph discusses the potential threat of asteroids, particularly those classified as Near-Earth Objects (NEOs) by NASA. It focuses on the asteroid named Bennu, which has a 1 in 2700 chance of colliding with Earth by September 24, 2182. Bennu, first spotted in 1999, is a carbon-rich asteroid that could release 1,200 megatons of energy upon impact, which would be catastrophic. The paragraph also mentions the OSIRIS-REx mission, which successfully collected samples from Bennu. Additionally, it touches on another asteroid, 99942 Apophis, which was initially considered highly dangerous but later deemed not a threat for at least a century after further examination. The importance of monitoring and understanding the orbits and potential impacts of these asteroids is emphasized, as even small asteroids can cause significant damage.
🌌 The Challenge of Detecting Inner Solar System Asteroids
The second paragraph delves into the difficulties of detecting asteroids within the inner solar system, especially those near the orbit of Earth. It highlights the limitations of traditional telescopes due to the sun's glare and Earth's atmospheric distortion. The paragraph introduces the Dark Energy Camera (DEC) at the Cerro Tololo Interamerican Observatory in Chile, which was originally designed to search for dark energy but is now being used to detect asteroids due to its wide and deep field of view. The DEC is capable of recording the motions of galaxies and is well-suited for spotting faint asteroids near the sun. The paragraph concludes by mentioning the DEC's role in one of the most sensitive searches for objects near Venus's orbit and within Earth's orbit, providing a valuable tool for discovering what kinds of objects are present in the inner solar system.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Asteroid Belt
💡Near-Earth Objects (NEOs)
💡Potentially Hazardous Asteroid (PHA)
💡Bennu
💡Gravitational Keyhole
💡Asteroid Apophis (99942 Apophis)
💡Impact Energy
💡Dark Energy Camera (DEC)
💡Chicxulub Crater
💡Baringer Crater (Meteor Crater)
Highlights
Hundreds of millions of rocks orbit the sun within the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.
NASA classifies asteroids orbiting within 30 million miles of Earth as near-Earth objects.
Asteroids that are large and orbit closely to Earth could pose a real threat in the event of a direct collision.
NASA is monitoring an asteroid named Bennu, which might collide with Earth in 159 years.
Bennu, first spotted in 1999, is likely to drift into Earth's orbit and collide by September 24, 2182.
Asteroid Bennu is taller than the Empire State Building and could release 1,200 megatons of energy upon impact.
There's a tiny chance that Bennu will pass through a gravitational keyhole during its flyby in the 22nd century, potentially leading to a collision.
Bennu flies by Earth every 6 years and has had three close encounters in 1999, 2005, and 2011.
The chance of Bennu hitting Earth by 2182 is estimated at 1 in 2700, higher than the odds of being struck by lightning.
Bennu is categorized as a potentially hazardous asteroid due to its close proximity to Earth, even though the collision risk is low.
Bennu is a carbon-rich asteroid formed in the first 10 million years of the solar system's history, holding clues to the origin and development of rocky planets.
NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission in 2020 successfully touched the surface of Bennu and collected samples.
Asteroid 99942 Apophis is another near-Earth object, initially identified as highly dangerous.
Apophis was predicted to come uncomfortably close to Earth in 2029, but further examination ruled out any risk of collision for at least a century.
Apophis' potential impact risk in 2068 was ruled out after a precise orbit estimation using radar during its 2021 flyby.
Even small asteroids can cause significant damage, and those larger than 0.6 miles are termed planet destroyers.
Our capability to protect the planet from asteroid impacts is not yet fully developed.
The Chicxulub crater is evidence of a devastating asteroid impact that led to the extinction of dinosaurs.
There are around 25,000 asteroids larger than 460 ft near Earth's orbit, capable of wiping out an entire city.
Less than 50% of such large asteroids have been detected and tracked.
The Dark Energy Camera at Cerro Tololo Interamerican Observatory in Chile is used to spot asteroids near the sun.
The Dark Energy Camera is well-suited for spotting faint asteroids due to its wide and deep field of view.
The camera was initially built for the Dark Energy Survey but is now used for other tasks, including asteroid detection.
Transcripts
hundreds of millions of rocks orbit the
sun within the asteroid belt between
Mars and Jupiter but only some of them
come relatively close to Earth NASA
classifies asteroids orbiting within 30
million miles of our planet as near
Earth objects and inside this group
there are particularly worrisome objects
those are so large and orbit so closely
to our home planet that they could turn
into a real threat to the world should a
direct Collision occur at the moment
NASA is keeping a close eye on an
asteroid named benu it's a fairly large
space object that might smash into our
planet in 159 years according to the
experts the asteroid which was first
spotted in 1999 is quite likely to drift
into the orbit of our planet if it
happens it might collide with Earth by
the 24th of September
2182 asteroid venu is thought to be
taller than the Empire State Building if
that hits our planet the Collision will
release 1,200 megatons of energy that's
an enormous amount of energy that
nothing built on Earth could produce
scientists from NASA believe that during
the flyby in the 22nd century there's a
tiny chance that the asteroid will pass
through a gravitational Keyhole that's a
region of space that might set the space
traveler on a certain path which could
result in the asteroid crashing into
Earth benu flies by our planet every 6
years it has had three close encounters
with Earth in 1999 2005 and 2011 these
days scientists estimate the chance of
the asteroid hitting our planet by
2182 as 1 in
2700 that's more than 5 times a person's
chance of being struck by
lightning but even though bennu's chance
of colliding with Earth are quite low at
the moment the space Rock has still been
categorized as a quote potentially
hazardous asteroid all because it might
come as close as
4.65 million miles from Earth that's the
reason why it's also classified as a
near Earth object benu is a carbon Rich
asteroid that was formed in the first 10
million years of the history of the
solar system that's around 4.5 billion
years ago no wonder this space body
holds precious Clues to the origin and
development of the rocky planets of our
solar system which are as you recall
Mercury Venus Earth and Mars even better
it may contain organic molecules similar
to those that are crucial for life to
evolve in 20120 NASA's oseris Rex
managed to briefly touch the surface of
the asteroid it collected some samples
and propelled off the space Rock
afterward for NASA it was the first
mission of this
kind but it won't probably come as a
surprise that benu isn't the only
asteroid we should worry about asteroid
99942
apus is another space body we'd better
watch out for it's a near Earth object
about 1,100 ft across it was discovered
in 2004 and at first it was identified
as one of the most dangerous asteroids
ever detected ooh apus gained notoriety
very fast it was believed to pose a
serious threat to Earth experts
predicted that it would come
uncomfortably close to our planet in
2029 luckily after a more careful
examination of aus and its orbit
astronomers concluded that there was no
risk of the asteroid colliding with our
planet for at least a century the risk
of an impact in 2029 was ruled out
completely as well as the potential
impact that could be caused by the
asteroids close approach in
2036 interestingly until March 2021
there was a small chance of a collision
in
2068 but then apus made a flyby of Earth
and astronomers took this chance to use
powerful Radars to estimate the
asteroids orbit around the sun more
precisely this allowed them to rule out
any impact risk for at least the next
100
years now the reason why such
discoveries make us so worried is that
even a relatively small asteroid the
size of a house can wreak havoc upon
colliding with our planet and if an
asteroid is larger than 0.6 M across
astronomers call it a planet Destroyer
the impact energy released by such an
asteroid after striking Earth could be
devastating that's why knowing where
such asteroids are and in what direction
they're moving is crucial the problem is
that our capability to protect the
planet from asteroid impacts is not
topnotch yet if such a catastrophe was
about to occur we would need some time
to prepare because an asteroid Collision
is no joke probably the most well-known
asteroid impact side is the chickalo
crater is the evidence of the terrifying
Collision that led to the extinction of
dinosaurs strangely this crater isn't
very visible but some others are for
example Behringer crater in Arizona
which is also called meteor crater it
looks rather blood chilling when you
think about the Collision that led to
its
appearance in any case we now know that
space rocks hit not only the Earth but
also the moon Mercury and Mars no Rocky
planet in the solar system is safe from
asteroid impacts that's why we have an
entire scientific Enterprise whose goal
is to find and catalog the asteroid
population of the solar system now it
might sound a bit scary but there are
around 25,000 asteroids larger than 460
ft in diameter near the orbit of our
planet such a space rock is large enough
to wipe an entire city off the face of
the Earth so far less than 50% of such
asteroids have been detected and tracked
there are also an estimated 230,000
objects equal to or larger than 160 ft
in size those are capable of destroying
a concentrated urban area and still
fewer than 8% of those have been
detected there are also tens of millions
of smaller neear objects they are larger
than 33 ft across and might cause some
surface damage less than 1% of such
small space bodies have been discovered
so
far now the thing is the inner solar
system is extremely challenging for
asteroid surch each night there are only
two 10-minute Windows when astronomers
can observe the region all because the
sun's glare creates a very bright
background glow plus the atmosphere of
our planet also distorts and blurs
observations spotting asteroids in such
conditions is beyond the capabilities of
most telescopes a unique instrument is
needed to fulfill this task and the tool
of choice is the dark energy camera at
serot too interamerican observatory in
Chile this device wasn't designed to
hunt asteroids researchers built it to
search for another elusive Target Dark
Energy the mysterious Force driving the
expansion of the universe the dec is
supposed to observe hundreds of millions
of galaxies that's why is both wide and
deep this way it can both peer deep into
the universe and capture a wide field of
view which helps it record the Motions
of galaxies and the conditions in the
early age of the
universe but it also means that the dec
is perfectly suited to spotting
asteroids near the sun inner asteroids
are rare and deep images are necessary
because such asteroids are faint
scientists need to be able to fight both
the bright twilight sky near our star
and the distorting effect of Earth's
atmosphere and the dec can help them
achieve their goal the dark energy
camera was built to carry out the dark
energy survey which finished in 2019 now
astronomers can direct the power of the
camera towards other tasks they claim
that the dec's survey is one of the most
sensitive searches ever perform for
objects near Venus's orbit and within
the orbit of our planet it provides us a
great chance to find out what kinds of
objects are lurking in the inner solar
system
that's it for today so hey if you
pacified your curiosity then give the
video a like and share it with your
friends or if you want more just click
on these videos and stay on the bright
side
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