Asteroids Hiding in Plain Sight Can Now Be Spotted Using New Algorithm THOR

Unlike current algorithms, THOR does not require the telescope to observe the sky for asteroids to be discoverable.

By Edited by Gadgets 360 Newsdesk | Updated: 2 June 2022 16:57 IST

Asteroids Hiding in Plain Sight Can Now Be Spotted Using New Algorithm THOR

Photo Credit: Pixabay

THOR has been running on the Asteroid Institute's cloud-based astrodynamics platform ADAM

Highlights

Nearly 1,400 asteroid have been classified as potentially hazardous
When they swing by Earth, they are described as Near Earth Asteroids
Finding, tracking asteroids is key to defence against their impact

An asteroid is a relatively small chunk of rocky minerals that orbits the Sun. When they swing by Earth, they are described as Near Earth Asteroids. Most of these rocky objects can be found orbiting in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. But nearly 1,400 of these have been classified as potentially hazardous to Earth, which means their orbit and size pose a reasonable threat to our safety. Most of the asteroids that enter the Earth's atmosphere are unable to withstand the heat and burn into a meteorite before hitting the surface. However, some do not vanish completely.

Some 65 million years ago, a large asteroid collided with the Earth and it was the end of the age of dinosaurs. Not just them, it is believed that around 75 percent of animals died out suddenly as a result of the catastrophic event. After realising the threat asteroids pose to our survival, researchers have been trying to study these rocky objects. As per the researchers, finding and tracking asteroids is key to planetary defence against their killer impacts.

Some researchers working closely with the University of Washington have developed a novel algorithm — known as Tracklet-less Heliocentric Orbit Recovery, or THOR — to do this work. Their algorithm has now proved its usefulness, by detecting the first candidate asteroids, which have been confirmed by the International Astronomical Union's Minor Planet Center.

Scientists Find First Dinosaur Fossil Directly Linked to Asteroid Strike

The Asteroid Institute, a programme of B612 Foundation, has been running THOR on its cloud-based astrodynamics platform ADAM. A comprehensive map of the solar system gives astronomers critical insights both for science and planetary defence.

Unlike current algorithms, THOR does not require the telescope to observe the sky for asteroids to be discoverable, the foundation said.

The researchers hope that the new algorithm will help detect more asteroids hiding in plain sight. “We are using the power of massive computation to enable not only more discoveries from existing telescopes, but also to find and track asteroids in historical images of the sky that had gone previously unnoticed because they were never intended for asteroid searches,” said Asteroid Institute Executive Director Dr. Ed Lu.

Are Oppo's new flagship phones any good? We discuss this on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

Affiliate links may be automatically generated - see our ethics statement for details.

Comments

For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who'sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube.