Breakthrough: UH team successfully locates incoming asteroid

Breakthrough: UH team successfully locates incoming asteroid

For the first time, astronomers at the University of Hawaiʻi have demonstrated that the
UHATLAS (Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System) and Pan-STARRS (Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System) survey telescopes can provide sufficient warning to move people away from the impact site of an incoming asteroid. The telescopes detected a small asteroid prior to its entering the Earth’s atmosphere near Puerto Rico on the morning of June 22, 2019.

ATLAS 2 Telescope on Mauna Loa. Photo by Henry Weiland.
The 4-meter diameter asteroid, which is about the size of a car and named 2019 MO, was observed four times in a span of 30 minutes by the ATLAS facility on Mauna Loa on Hawaiʻi Island, at around midnight Hawaiʻi time on the morning of Saturday, June 22. At that point, the asteroid was only 500,000 km from Earth-1.3 times the distance to the Moon. These initial observations were assessed by the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s (JPL) Scout impact analysis software, and the asteroid was given a modest impact rating of 2 (a rating of 4 is “likely”). However, JPL’s Davide Farnocchia noted a possible match with an atmospheric infrasound detection over Puerto Rico about 12 hours later, and he asked if the community could search for additional observations.

Luckily, the Pan-STARRS 2 (PS2) telescope on Haleakalā was operating at the same time, and two hours prior to the ATLAS observations had imaged the part of the sky where 2019 MO should have been seen. The asteroid was located on a part of the camera that is not fully operational, but scientists Robert Weryk and Mark Huber at the UH Institute for Astronomy and Marco Micheli at the European Space Agency were able to analyze these PS2 images and find the asteroid.

With these additional PS2 observations, the asteroid’s entry path prediction improved significantly, and new calculations by the Scout software increased the impact rating to 4 or “likely.” The improved orbit calculation also matched the infrasound detection with very high likelihood. The Nexrad weather radar in San Juan, Puerto Rico, also detected 2019 MO as it burnt up in the atmosphere, and pinpointed the entry location over the ocean, about 380 km south of San Juan, closely corresponding to the infrasound location.

Scanning the skies
ATLAS consists of two telescopes, 100 miles apart, with one on Mauna Loa, Hawaiʻi Island, and one on Haleakalā, Maui. They automatically scan the whole sky every two nights, looking in all directions and see asteroids before they can hit the Earth. ATLAS currently discovers about 100 asteroids with diameters bigger than 30 meters every year.

Scientists estimate that asteroid 2019 MO was much smaller, only about 4 meters (13 feet) across. An asteroid that small would likely burn up entirely as it entered Earth’s atmosphere. The ATLAS telescopes can detect even such small objects about half a day before they arrive. It will find larger objects, like the one that exploded over Chelyabinsk, Russia, in 2013, a few days before they impact. That asteroid was about 20 meters across or the size of a house.

ATLAS and Pan-STARRS are funded by grants from the NASA Near-Earth Object Observations program.

Numerous national and international astronomy organizations have come together to study on the summit of Maunakea, creating one of the world’s largest ground-based astronomical research and observing sites. The remote location, clean air, dark skies, stable atmosphere, minimal cloud cover, and transparency of the atmosphere to infrared radiation make the summit of Maunakea ideal for astronomy. The combination of optical, infrared, and sub- millimeter wavelength telescopes provide synergy and opportunities to study the sky from multiple perspectives.

The 525-acre Astronomy Precinct encompasses eleven telescope facilities representing eight countries on Maunakea. Eight of them are for optical and infrared astronomy, two of them are for sub millimeter wavelength astronomy and one is for radio astronomy. They include four of the largest optical/infrared telescopes in the world (the two Keck telescopes, Subaru, and Gemini), the second-largest dedicated infrared telescope (UKIRT) and the world’s largest submillimeter telescope (JCMT).

UH Hilo Astronomy Program

The UH Hilo astronomy program aims to develop the science knowledge and analytic skills of students, whether they be majors or not, through a focus on the field of astronomy; and instill an appreciation of science, particularly astronomy, in students. The program provides the students with transferable skills so they can excel in a wide range of STEM-related fields. Through the study of astronomy, graduates will also learn to appreciate and understand science more broadly, enabling them to be more informed citizens. The B.S. degree program, taking advantage of our access to Maunakea Observatories, provides the training needed for students seeking careers in astronomy—as professional astronomers, observatory technical staff, and educators. The program supports the liberal arts mission of the University of Hawai`i by providing general education courses in a field of major importance to the State of Hawai`i.

Contact Information:
Marianne Takamiya, Ph.D
Department Chair of Physics & Astronomy
University of Hawai’i Hilo
e: takamiya@hawaii.edu
ph: 808.932.7194
www.astro.uhh.hawaii.edu

University of Hawai`i Institute for Astronomy

The Institute for Astronomy is a research institute within the University of Hawai`i at Manoa. It was founded in 1967 to manage the Haleakalā Observatories on Maui and the Mauna Kea Observatories on the Big Island, and to carry out its own program of fundamental research into the stars, planets, and galaxies that make up our Universe. It is one of the world’s leading astronomical research centers. Its broad-based program includes studies of the Sun, planets, and stars, as well as interstellar matter, galaxies, and cosmology. Most IfA astronomers use the giant telescopes atop Mauna Kea and Haleakalā to collect faint visible light, including infrared and submillimeter radiation, from distant objects. In addition to astronomy research, IfA develops new technologies for use in ground-based and space-based observatories.
With a staff of over 60 Ph.Ds, IfA is one of the largest university astronomy programs in the world offering undergraduate, Masters and Doctorate degrees.