In a shocking turn of events, an asteroid larger than the Leaning Tower of Pisa made an exceptionally close approach to Earth, slipping unnoticed past NASA’s monitoring systems. This giant asteroid, designated 2023 NT1, managed to avoid detection until two days after it had already whizzed past our planet.
The asteroid reached a startlingly close distance of around 62,000 miles from Earth. To put it in context, this is roughly a quarter of the distance between Earth and the Moon, a strikingly short distance in astronomical terms.
However, due to the unfortunate alignment with the sun, the asteroid was masked by sunlight, thereby evading early detection.
Flying under the asteroid detection radar
The asteroid, now moving away from Earth at an impressive speed of 25,000 miles per hour, boasts a diameter of up to 200 feet.
This size distinction places 2023 NT1 as larger than the 60-foot Chelyabinsk meteor that famously crashed into Earth’s atmosphere in 2013, resulting in injuries to over 1,600 people.
Based on information provided by NASA and the International Astronomical Union, the close encounter with 2023 NT1 occurred at 10:12 UTC on July 13.
However, ATLAS South Africa didn’t make the first recorded observation until two days later. Specialists specifically designed this four-telescope system to detect potentially hazardous asteroids.
Was the asteroid potentially hazardous?
In a social media discussion about the incident, amateur astronomer Tony Dunn speculated that, with a diameter of up to 200 feet, 2023 NT1 could be larger than the asteroid believed to have created the Meteor Crater in Arizona.
This significant landmark near Flagstaff, spanning around 3,900 feet in diameter, is attributed to a collision that occurred approximately 50,000 years ago.
Although 2023 NT1’s approach to our planet was alarmingly close, it is not technically classified as “potentially hazardous.”
The criteria for this designation require the asteroid to come within 0.05 astronomical units (roughly 4.65 million miles) of Earth and be larger than 459 feet in diameter. While 2023 NT1 meets the proximity requirement, its size falls short of the designated threat threshold.
The sun’s glare obscured NT1
Despite its innocuous passage this time around, 2023 NT1’s close flyby underscores the ongoing challenge in detecting some asteroids, particularly those obscured by the sun’s glare.
For example, the Chelyabinsk meteor of 2013 remained undetected due to its radiant point’s proximity to the sun. The meteor eventually exploded in a spectacular fireball, releasing an energy equivalent to 500,000 tons of TNT and sending a shockwave twice around the globe.
In light of such incidents, there are proactive measures underway to mitigate future threats. The European Space Agency plans to launch its NEOMIR orbiting observatory around 2030 as one such initiative. Designers created this observatory to act as an early warning system, detecting and monitoring any asteroid approaching Earth from the direction of the sun.
Positioned at the L1 Lagrange point, a stable point in space between Earth and the sun, NEOMIR’s infrared telescope aims to identify asteroids 65 feet and larger that are currently masked by sunlight.
Planetary defense
Such efforts are part of the broader conversation around planetary defense, a topic that has gained substantial attention following NASA’s successful Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission last September. During this mission, the DART spacecraft intentionally crashed into Dimorphos, an asteroid moonlet in the double-asteroid system of Didymos, marking humanity’s first successful planetary defense test.
Despite these advancements, there are some asteroid types that may prove difficult, if not impossible, to deflect using current techniques, as indicated by recent studies. “Rubble pile” asteroids, like Itokawa, consist of boulders and rocks loosely clustered together.
Due to their structure, these asteroids could potentially absorb the energy of an impact and continue on their trajectory, posing challenges to future mitigation strategies.
More about asteroid detection
Asteroid detection involves the use of various observational technologies and techniques to identify and track asteroids, particularly those that may pose a threat to Earth (also known as Near-Earth Objects, or NEOs).
Ground-based telescopes
Ground-based telescopes typically use charge-coupled devices (CCDs) to record images of the sky. Scientists then use software to compare images taken at different times and look for objects that have moved. The key ground-based facilities include the Catalina Sky Survey in the United States and the Pan-STARRS telescope in Hawaii.
Space-based detection
Space-based detectors offer several advantages over ground-based ones. They can observe the sky continuously, aren’t affected by the Earth’s weather or daylight, and can detect objects that are faint or close to the sun, which are difficult to observe from Earth.
NASA’s Near-Earth Object Observations (NEOO) program uses a space-based infrared telescope called NEOWISE to detect asteroids. Development is also underway for the NEO Surveillance Mission (NEOSM), previously known as the Near-Earth Object Camera (NEOCam).
Efforts are also underway to improve asteroid detection capabilities. For instance, the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST), renamed as Vera C. Rubin Observatory, which is under construction in Chile, will have a much larger field of view than existing telescopes. When it becomes operational, scientists expect it to significantly improve asteroid detection.
Scientists use data from these telescopes and detectors to calculate the orbits of detected asteroids and assess whether they pose a threat to Earth. The Minor Planet Center in Massachusetts is the global repository for such information.
Detection remains a challenge
However, even with these resources, asteroid detection remains a significant challenge. Many asteroids are very small or dark, making them difficult to spot, and the vastness of space means that there are many areas to search.
Additionally, predicting the exact path of an asteroid is difficult due to the gravitational influence of other celestial bodies and the so-called Yarkovsky effect, where an asteroid’s trajectory can be subtly altered by the radiation of heat from its surface.
Scientists and engineers continue to develop new technologies and techniques to improve asteroid detection, including better algorithms for processing images, new types of sensors, and proposals for new space-based telescopes. The goal is to find potentially hazardous asteroids as early as possible, providing time to take action if necessary.
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The body of Ugandan Olympic athlete Rebecca Cheptegei — who died after being set on fire by her partner in Kenya — was received Friday by family and anti-femicide crusaders, ahead of her burial a day later.
Cheptegei’s family met with dozens of activists Friday who had marched to the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital’s morgue in the western city of Eldoret while chanting anti-femicide slogans.
She is the fourth female athlete to have been killed by her partner in Kenya in yet another case of gender-based violence in recent years.
Viola Cheptoo, the founder of Tirop Angels – an organization that was formed in honor of athlete Agnes Tirop, who was stabbed to death in 2021, said stakeholders need to ensure this is the last death of an athlete due to gender-based violence.
“We are here to say that enough is enough, we are tired of burying our sisters due to GBV,” she said.
It was a somber mood at the morgue as athletes and family members viewed Cheptegei’s body which sustained 80% of burns after she was doused with gasoline by her partner Dickson Ndiema. Ndiema sustained 30% burns on his body and later succumbed.
Ndiema and Cheptegei were said to have quarreled over a piece of land that the athlete bought in Kenya, according to a report filed by the local chief.
Cheptegei competed in the women’s marathon at the Paris Olympics less than a month before the attack. She finished in 44th place.
Cheptegei’s father, Joseph, said that the body will make a brief stop at their home in the Endebess area before proceeding to Bukwo in eastern Uganda for a night vigil and burial on Saturday.
“We are in the final part of giving my daughter the last respect,” a visibly distraught Joseph said.
He told reporters last week that Ndiema was stalking and threatening Cheptegei and the family had informed police.
Four in 10 women or an estimated 41% of dating or married Kenyan women have experienced physical or sexual violence perpetrated by their current or most recent partner, according to the Kenya Demographic and Health Survey 2022.
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — A rare Bronze-Era jar accidentally smashed by a 4-year-old visiting a museum was back on display Wednesday after restoration experts were able to carefully piece the artifact back together.
Last month, a family from northern Israel was visiting the museum when their youngest son tipped over the jar, which smashed into pieces.
Alex Geller, the boy’s father, said his son — the youngest of three — is exceptionally curious, and that the moment he heard the crash, “please let that not be my child” was the first thought that raced through his head.
The jar has been on display at the Hecht Museum in Haifa for 35 years. It was one of the only containers of its size and from that period still complete when it was discovered.
The Bronze Age jar is one of many artifacts exhibited out in the open, part of the Hecht Museum’s vision of letting visitors explore history without glass barriers, said Inbal Rivlin, the director of the museum, which is associated with Haifa University in northern Israel.
It was likely used to hold wine or oil, and dates back to between 2200 and 1500 B.C.
Rivlin and the museum decided to turn the moment, which captured international attention, into a teaching moment, inviting the Geller family back for a special visit and hands-on activity to illustrate the restoration process.
Rivlin added that the incident provided a welcome distraction from the ongoing war in Gaza. “Well, he’s just a kid. So I think that somehow it touches the heart of the people in Israel and around the world,“ said Rivlin.
Roee Shafir, a restoration expert at the museum, said the repairs would be fairly simple, as the pieces were from a single, complete jar. Archaeologists often face the more daunting task of sifting through piles of shards from multiple objects and trying to piece them together.
Experts used 3D technology, hi-resolution videos, and special glue to painstakingly reconstruct the large jar.
Less than two weeks after it broke, the jar went back on display at the museum. The gluing process left small hairline cracks, and a few pieces are missing, but the jar’s impressive size remains.
The only noticeable difference in the exhibit was a new sign reading “please don’t touch.”
VICTORIA – The British Columbia government is partnering with a bear welfare group to reduce the number of bears being euthanized in the province.
Nicholas Scapillati, executive director of Grizzly Bear Foundation, said Monday that it comes after months-long discussions with the province on how to protect bears, with the goal to give the animals a “better and second chance at life in the wild.”
Scapillati said what’s exciting about the project is that the government is open to working with outside experts and the public.
“So, they’ll be working through Indigenous knowledge and scientific understanding, bringing in the latest techniques and training expertise from leading experts,” he said in an interview.
B.C. government data show conservation officers destroyed 603 black bears and 23 grizzly bears in 2023, while 154 black bears were killed by officers in the first six months of this year.
Scapillati said the group will publish a report with recommendations by next spring, while an independent oversight committee will be set up to review all bear encounters with conservation officers to provide advice to the government.
Environment Minister George Heyman said in a statement that they are looking for new ways to ensure conservation officers “have the trust of the communities they serve,” and the panel will make recommendations to enhance officer training and improve policies.
Lesley Fox, with the wildlife protection group The Fur-Bearers, said they’ve been calling for such a committee for decades.
“This move demonstrates the government is listening,” said Fox. “I suspect, because of the impending election, their listening skills are potentially a little sharper than they normally are.”
Fox said the partnership came from “a place of long frustration” as provincial conservation officers kill more than 500 black bears every year on average, and the public is “no longer tolerating this kind of approach.”
“I think that the conservation officer service and the B.C. government are aware they need to change, and certainly the public has been asking for it,” said Fox.
Fox said there’s a lot of optimism about the new partnership, but, as with any government, there will likely be a lot of red tape to get through.
“I think speed is going to be important, whether or not the committee has the ability to make change and make change relatively quickly without having to study an issue to death, ” said Fox.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 9, 2024.
