New Telescope in Chile To Protect Earth From Risky Asteroids

The European Southern Observatory (ESO) and the European Space Agency (ESA) have put into operation the Test-Bed Telescope 2 (TBT2), an instrument installed at the La Silla observatory in Chile which will work in conjunction with Spain's TBT1 to monitor asteroids that could pose a risk to Earth.

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The ESO-ESA project "is a test-bed to demonstrate the capabilities needed to detect and follow-up near-Earth objects with the same telescope system," said ESA's Head of the Optical Technologies Section Clemens Heese.

TBT2 and TBT1 will act as precursors to the "Flyeye" telescope network, a fully robotic net that will report on the positions of detected asteroids.

While serious impacts of hazardous asteroids on Earth are quite unlikely, they are not impossible. For billions of years, Earth has been periodically bombarded with asteroids, and the 2013 Chelyabinsk meteor event, which caused some 1,600 injuries from shrapnel and broken glass, further heightened public awareness of the threat posed by near-Earth objects.

Larger objects are more damaging, but fortunately, they are easier to detect and the orbits of large asteroids are already well understood. However, it is estimated that there are a large number of unknown smaller objects that could cause severe damage if they were to impact a populated area.

When the Flyeye network becomes operational, astronomers will be able to survey the night sky to track fast-moving and potentially dangerous objects.

"To calculate the risk posed by potentially hazardous objects in the Solar System, we first need a census of these objects. The TBT project is an important step in that direction," La Silla Observatory Director Ivo Saviane explained.