ATLAS, the Asteroid Terrestrial-Impact Last Alert System
27 Feb 2013, 02:55 UTC
fallingstar.com
A team of astronomers from the University of Hawaii is developing a system to indentify dangerous asteroids before their final fall to Earth. According to the researchers, the system will offer a 1 week warning for a 45 meter diameter and 3 weeks for a 140 meter diameter asteroid. “That’s enough time to evacuate the area of people, take measures [...]
Alternate ATLAS design with 3x in the collecting area and in the field of view (Credits: fallingstar.com).
A team of astronomers from the University of Hawaii is developing a system to indentify dangerous asteroids before their final fall to Earth.
According to the researchers, the system will offer a 1 week warning for a 45 meter diameter and 3 weeks for a 140 meter diameter asteroid. “That’s enough time to evacuate the area of people, take measures to protect buildings and other infrastructure, and be alert to a tsunami danger generated by ocean impacts,” said John Tonry, principal investigator for the project.
The system, called Asteroid Terrestrial-Impact Last Alert System (ATLAS), will operate up to 8 small telescopes, each fitted with cameras of up to 100 megapixels, on mounts housed at one or two locations on the Hawaiian Islands. ...
