NASA spots asteroids coming dangerously close to Earth

This is a great discovery made by NASA. The agency has spotted asteroids approaching Earth!

The James Webb Space Telescope continues to revolutionize astronomy. Indeed, for three years, its regular observations have revealed new aspects of space. Recently, NASA astronomers made a surprising discovery.

A NASA discovery

To their greatest surprise, NASA experts discovered the appearance of 138 asteroids never before identified. They were able to reveal themselves thanks to the exceptional sensitivity of the telescope in detecting thermal emissions.

These observations, published in the journal Nature, mark a major advance in our understanding of celestial objects close to Earth. In a press release, Julien de Wit, associate professor of planetary sciences at MIT, confided.

“We expected to detect only a few new objects, but we detected many more than expected, especially the smallest ones”he explained. NASA experts only expected discover between 20 and 30 new objects.

These recently spotted asteroids, described as “decametric”, measure between 10 and 100 meters. You can therefore compare them to the size of a bus or even a stadium. According to the researchers, they probably come from a series of collisions between larger asteroids.

This then generated a multitude of fragments. These objects were identified in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, almost 250 million kilometers from Earth. Their initial location might seem reassuring.

“We have a method to spot these small asteroids”

On the other hand, be aware that they nevertheless represent a potential threat. Unlike large asteroids, these smaller fragments come into colliding with Earth 10,000 times more frequently.

Their detection is also much more complex. It is for this reason that these asteroids are the subject of very significant monitoring. The NASA study notably made it possible to identify six asteroids among these new objects.

They could become near-Earthers, asteroids whose orbit crosses that of the Earth. These trajectories remain influenced by gravitational forces. This also increases the chances of a rapprochement of our planet.

Every year, on average, one small asteroid hits Earth. While most of these collisions remain without significant consequences, the explosion of an asteroid approximately 20 meters above Chelyabinsk, Russia, in 2013 illustrates the dangers.

This event caused significant damage and left thousands injured. This shows that we need to better anticipate these phenomena. “We now have a method to spot these small asteroids at great distances, which is crucial for refining their trajectories and strengthening the planet’s defense”said Artem Burdanov, lead author of the study.

Further observations to come

The ability of NASA’s James Webb telescope to detect these very small objects opens new perspectives. It allows to anticipate the trajectories of these asteroids quite dangerous with very high precision.

This therefore makes it possible to strengthen prevention tools. While this discovery marks a significant milestone, the James Webb Telescope’s mission does not stop there. The next observations will focus on 15 to 20 distant stars.

This is an approach that could lead to the discovery of new decametric asteroids. This ongoing research is essential to anticipate risks. But also for improve preparedness for celestial threats.

The defense of our planet also remains a priority for the scientific community. Advances in technology like those of the James Webb telescope clearly play a very important role in this NASA mission.