Latest news with #LowellDiscoveryTelescope
Yahoo
03-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
A whole 'population' of minimoons may be lurking near Earth, researchers say
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Earth's minimoon may be a chip off the old block: New research suggests that 2024 PT5 — a small, rocky body dubbed a "minimoon" during its discovery last year — may have been blown off the moon during a giant impact long ago, making it the second known sample traveling near Earth's orbit. The discovery hints at a hidden population of lunar fragments traveling near Earth. "If there were only one object, that would be interesting but an outlier," Teddy Kareta, a planetary scientist at Lowell Observatory in Arizona, said in March at the 56th annual Lunar and Planetary Sciences Conference in the Woodlands, Texas. "If there's two, we're pretty confident that's a population." Earth travels through and with a cloud of debris as the planet makes tracks around the sun. Some of that material is human-made — satellites and space junk. Other material is rocky debris left over from collisions in the early solar system. These near-Earth objects (NEOs) can be a concern, so they are tracked to ensure they are not a threat to our planet. Related: Just how many threatening asteroids are there? It's complicated. In August 2024, astronomers in South Africa identified a new rock, known as 2024 PT5, traveling near Earth. 2024 PT5 was moving slowly, with a relative velocity of only 4.5 mph (2 meters per second), making it a strong target for the Mission Accessible Near-Earth Object Survey (MANOS). Only nine other asteroids have been seen traveling so slowly at their closest approach. Kareta, along with MANOS principal investigator Nick Moskovitz, also at Lowell, have been intrigued by the idea of finding moon rocks in space since just after the first such fragment was identified in 2021. MANOS is designed to hunt for and characterize the near-Earth asteroids that might be the easiest to visit with a spacecraft. According to Kareta, that meant the survey was ideal for looking at lunar castoffs. Within a week of 2024 PT5's discovery, they had turned the Lowell Discovery Telescope in the space rock's direction. After studying 2024 PT5 in both visible and near-infrared data, they concluded that it wasn't an ordinary asteroid. Its composition proved similar to that of rocks carried back to Earth during the Apollo program, as well as one returned by the Soviet Union's Luna 24. The researchers also found that 2024 PT5 was small — 26 to 39 feet (8 to 12 meters) in diameter. Kareta and his colleagues suspect that 2024 PT5 was excavated when something crashed into the moon. By studying the asteroid's composition, they hope to tie the material back to its source and perhaps even identify its parent crater. Cratering events are one of the most important processes that shape planetary bodies without tectonics or liquids to remold them. But impacts can be affected by a variety of variables, and understanding them can be a challenge. Matching debris to its crater can provide another way to understand what happens when two bodies collide. That's what makes identifying lunar rocks in space so intriguing. "It's like realizing a crime scene has a totally new kind of evidence you didn't know you had before," Kareta told by email. "It might not help you solve the crime right away, but considering the importance of the task, new details to compare are always welcome." Material from the Earth-moon system should be some of the easiest to fall into orbit near Earth. After an impactor collides with the moon, all but the fastest-moving material flung into space should continue traveling near our system. Although 2024 PT5 was dubbed a minimoon in September, it only briefly fell in line with the planet. Kareta compared it to two cars on the highway. Earth is blazing along in its own lane, while 2024 PT5 chugged along the interior path, closer to the sun. In 2024, the tiny chunk of rock changed lanes, falling into Earth's path at roughly the same speed. By the end of September, it had moved on, shifting outward. Earth left it behind, but on the solar race track, the pair should be parallel again in 2055, scientists estimate. 2024 PT5 is the second lunar fragment identified by researchers. Another small rock, Kamo'oalewa, was traced to the moon in 2021, five years after its discovery. That could hint at a new population, hidden in plain sight. Both objects are traveling in Earth-like orbits, but they don't have much else in common. Kamo'oalewa is larger and appears to have been battered by cosmic rays, solar radiation and other processes longer than 2024 PT5 has. That might suggest it has been in space longer, Kareta said. Their orbits are also a bit different. Kamo'oalewa's quasi-satellite orbit keeps it in Earth's immediate vicinity for several consecutive orbits, even though it isn't actually spinning around the planet. Unlike the lane-changing 2024 PT5, Kamo'oalewa is more like a car that stays one lane over, moving at roughly the same speed. Researchers are trying to match Kamo'oalewa to a crater. A recent study suggested that it could have come from a smashup that created Giordano Bruno crater, a 14-mile-wide (22 km) impact basin on the far side of the moon. Kareta is hopeful that more will be identified. While a single sample is an oddity, two could be part of a crowd. He suspects that some asteroids that have been identified as unusual may be lunar rocks in disguise. RELATED STORIES: —Goodnight moon! Astronomers snap photo of Earth's departing mini-moon —Earth's mini-moon has finally departed. Will it ever return as a 'second moon?' —Earth's recent asteroid visitor might've been a piece of the moon When the orbits of NEOs are calculated, their source region is often estimated based on their current travels. If some objects have been misclassified and their sources are incorrect, that could mean other aspects of their orbits are misunderstood. Although that could potentially increase the long-term chances of Earth being hit by an asteroid, Kareta said it is "almost certainly not" the case, "but we'll need to prove it." For now, Kareta and his colleagues will continue to use MANOS to search for other potential lunar fragments. He's hopeful that the doubled population will convince other researchers to take a closer look, too. Upcoming large-scale surveys — like the Vera Rubin Observatory, a ground-based telescope expected to see first light this year — should also help to reveal other dim objects. The research was published in January in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.
Yahoo
19-03-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
The Discovery Telescope, operated by the Lowell Observatory, uncovers mysteries of the universe
The Brief The Discovery Telescope is one of the largest in the country. It is located in Happy Jack, about 50 miles away from the Lowell Observatory. The telescope has been instrumental in discovering eco-planets, supernovas and monitoring the path of asteroid YR 2024. HAPPY JACK, Ariz. - Tucked away in Happy Jack a very important telescope is hard at work nearly every night, not just on science but on keeping us safe from asteroids, too. When this telescope first started taking pictures of the night sky in 2012, it was renowned for its versatility. It proved that point in 2025 as it joined the front lines of planetary defense. What we know Beyond a half-mile dirt road up a hill in Happy Jack sits a structure hard to miss. The building, with angles reflecting sunlight throughout the day, inside is one of the largest telescopes in the country. "They call us the Swiss Army knife of telescopes," said Jake Tiegs who works on the Lowell Discovery Telescope. It's the Lowell Observatory's largest telescope and is actually 50 miles to the south in Happy Jack. Tiegs is one of the mechanics that helps keep it operational. "They have about a mile of power cords, communication cords, fiber optics," said Tiegs. From the only climate-controlled room in the building, he monitors the weather conditions to make sure the doors can be open. "If the wind gusts go too high, we close it up. It's a wind closure, we call it," he said. Once they are closed, he tracks which astronomers across the world have access to point it and makes sure the 6,000-pound mirror is perfectly in shape. Dig deeper Jake opened the flaps on the mirror and lowered it down for us to take a look. Under the telescope, you can see the thin 4.3 meter, 14-foot diameter mirror inside and the mechanisms that constantly shift and adjust to make sure the telescope doesn't move even the slightest. "We're talking in the neighborhood of tens of thousands of an inch or thousands of an inch," said Tiegs about the shifting mechanisms. The telescope is actually separate from the building to make sure it doesn't shake and rotates on a 14-foot diameter drive gear. "It is one piece of metal lithed in Italy, the only place that has a lithe big enough, apparently," said Tiegs. Why you should care What makes the Discovery Telescope unique are the mechanisms on its backside. In just five minutes, they can use a different tool to measure something else in the night sky on other telescopes that can take a day to swap that out. "No one is mass-producing instruments like that. Each instrument you see on a research telescope is bespoke, one of a kind, usually a prototype," said Tiegs. It was helpful as the telescope switched from searching for eco-planets and supernovas to asteroid YR 2024 and monitoring its path. The Discovery Telescope gave key data which lowered the chances of an impact with earth in the next decade substantially, all thanks to its versatility. After showing it off… it's time to cover the mirrors, tilt it back up and ready it for the next adventure, uncovering the mysteries of the universe from right here in Arizona. One of the reasons the spot in Happy Jack was picked for telescope is that weather is cooperative more than 300 nights a year.
Yahoo
06-03-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
How "asteroid detectives" are protecting Earth from potential danger
Astronomers believe that 14,000 undiscovered near-Earth objects like asteroids, large enough to cause damage, could be in space. Recently, NASA was tracking a large asteroid flying past Earth known as the so-called "city killer." "This one got a lot of attention because it rose to a threat level that we just have not seen very often. We knew we had to monitor it and try to understand everything we could about it, not just where it is, but what is it made of? What size is it?" astronomer Nick Moskovitz said. Moskovitz says he's become an "asteroid detective," working to protect Earth from a possible disaster. "Find them before they find you. The sooner you find them, the more options you have for deflecting potentially hazardous asteroids," Moskovitz said. In 2022, NASA performed a first-of-its-kind test. The agency intentionally crashed a spacecraft into a small asteroid, nudging it just enough to change its trajectory. The mission gave the space agency a tool that could potentially be used to counter an asteroid heading for our planet. "It's the only natural disaster that we could potentially prevent," said NASA's acting planetary defense officer Kelly Fast. "And if you were to find an impact threat to Earth well enough in advance, then you wouldn't have to deflect it much for it to be able to miss the Earth in the future." The Lowell Discovery Telescope in northern Arizona is one of a handful around the world searching the night sky for asteroids that could potentially threaten Earth. "We can see orders of magnitude fainter than you would be able to with your naked eye," Moskovitz explained. 2024 YR4, "city killer" asteroid Since December, Moskovitz had the Lowell Discovery Telescope trained on the 2024 YR4 asteroid. Scientists at one point projected it had about a 3% chance of hitting Earth in 2032. 2024 YR4 is now expected to miss Earth and "no longer poses a significant threat," according to a recent analysis from NASA. It has approximately a 0.004% chance of hitting the planet in eight years, new calculations show. "The latest observations have further reduced the uncertainty of its future trajectory, and the range of possible locations the asteroid could be on Dec. 22, 2032, has moved farther away from the Earth," NASA said. However, there is a 1.7% chance that it could impact the moon. Previous impacts of asteroids In 2013, a small asteroid, just 60 feet wide, exploded over Russia, injuring more than 1,600 people. An asteroid big enough to wipe out an entire city crashed to Earth 50,000 years ago in what is now northern Arizona. It left a crater that was three quarters of a mile wide and 600 feet deep. Watch: Trump's full address to Congress Takeaways from Trump's joint address to Congress Watch: Sen. Elissa Slotkin refutes Trump's speech to Congress in Democratic rebuttal
CBS News
06-03-2025
- Science
- CBS News
How "asteroid detectives" are protecting Earth from potentially dangerous impacts: "Find them before they find you"
Astronomers believe that 14,000 undiscovered near-Earth objects like asteroids, large enough to cause damage, could be in space. Recently, NASA was tracking a large asteroid flying past Earth known as the so-called "city killer." "This one got a lot of attention because it rose to a threat level that we just have not seen very often. We knew we had to monitor it and try to understand everything we could about it, not just where it is, but what is it made of? What size is it?" astronomer Nick Moskovitz said. Moskovitz says he's become an "asteroid detective," working to protect Earth from a possible disaster. "Find them before they find you. The sooner you find them, the more options you have for deflecting potentially hazardous asteroids," Moskovitz said. In 2022, NASA performed a first-of-its-kind test. The agency intentionally crashed a spacecraft into a small asteroid, nudging it just enough to change its trajectory. The mission gave the space agency a tool that could potentially be used to counter an asteroid heading for our planet. "It's the only natural disaster that we could potentially prevent," said NASA's acting planetary defense officer Kelly Fast. "And if you were to find an impact threat to Earth well enough in advance, then you wouldn't have to deflect it much for it to be able to miss the Earth in the future." The Lowell Discovery Telescope in northern Arizona is one of a handful around the world searching the night sky for asteroids that could potentially threaten Earth. "We can see orders of magnitude fainter than you would be able to with your naked eye," Moskovitz explained. 2024 YR4, "city killer" asteroid Since December, Moskovitz had the Lowell Discovery Telescope trained on the 2024 YR4 asteroid. Scientists at one point projected it had about a 3% chance of hitting Earth in 2032. 2024 YR4 is now expected to miss Earth and "no longer poses a significant threat," according to a recent analysis from NASA. It has approximately a 0.004% chance of hitting the planet in eight years, new calculations show. "The latest observations have further reduced the uncertainty of its future trajectory, and the range of possible locations the asteroid could be on Dec. 22, 2032, has moved farther away from the Earth," NASA said. However, there is a 1.7% chance that it could impact the moon. Previous impacts of asteroids In 2013, a small asteroid, just 60 feet wide, exploded over Russia, injuring more than 1,600 people. An asteroid big enough to wipe out an entire city crashed to Earth 50,000 years ago in what is now northern Arizona. It left a crater that was three quarters of a mile wide and 600 feet deep.
