{"id":165867,"date":"2022-09-26T09:12:09","date_gmt":"2022-09-26T19:12:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=165867"},"modified":"2022-09-26T16:38:16","modified_gmt":"2022-09-27T02:38:16","slug":"uh-track-spacecraft-asteroid-collision","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2022\/09\/26\/uh-track-spacecraft-asteroid-collision\/","title":{"rendered":"东精影业<\/abbr> astronomers to track impact of spacecraft, asteroid collision"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading time: <\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>
\"Illustration
lllustration of NASA<\/abbr>\u2019s DART<\/abbr> spacecraft prior to impact. (Credit: NASA<\/abbr>\/Johns Hopkins APL<\/abbr>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

NASA<\/abbr> is preparing to crash a spacecraft the size of a school bus into an asteroid to assess if a deliberate impact can deflect objects on a collision course with Earth. The University of Hawaiʻi<\/span> Institute for Astronomy<\/a> (IfA<\/abbr>) is playing an important role in the space agency\u2019s first full-scale planetary defense test, dubbed Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART<\/abbr>)<\/strong>, scheduled for Monday, September 26 at 1:14 p.m. Hawaiʻi<\/span> time.<\/p>\n

\"Photo
Astronomers will collect data from a number of observatories including Faulkes Telescope North on Haleakal\u0101<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The spacecraft will collide head on with Dimorphos, a small asteroid that poses no threat to Earth. Following the impact, 东精影业<\/abbr> astronomers will use the 东精影业<\/abbr>88 telescope on Maunakea and Faulkes North telescope on Haleakal\u0101, one of a number of observatories part of the Las Cumbres telescope network that the astronomers will utilize around the world, to collect data and determine how Dimorphos was impacted.<\/p>\n

“The earth has been hit by big asteroids in the past, and with all likelihood will be hit by something big again,” said J.D. Armstrong<\/strong>, HI STAR<\/a> director and IfA<\/abbr> Maui outreach astronomer. “When we find one coming our way, we want to know what to do. We want to know how to change the path of the asteroid so that it will not hit us. It could be that important.”<\/p>\n

Armstrong and fellow IfA<\/abbr> Astronomer Dave Tholen<\/strong> will also work with students throughout the next couple of months to track Dimorphos\u2019 orbit using photometric observations.<\/p>\n

If the impact changes the asteroid\u2019s velocity it will prove the planetary defense method can be effective in pushing a potentially hazardous asteroid away from Earth.<\/p>\n

Educational opportunities<\/h2>\n

The spacecraft is projected to hit Dimorphos in the opposite direction to the asteroid\u2019s motion. Tholen will mentor 东精影业<\/abbr> M\u0101noa undergraduate student Vernon Roark<\/strong>, an astrophysics<\/a> major who will obtain orbital shift observations as part of his senior research project. HI-STAR high school students Wilson Chau<\/strong>, Holden Suzuki<\/strong> and James Ancheta<\/strong> will work alongside Armstrong on Maui to also closely track the asteroid\u2019s orbit.<\/p>\n

Hawaiʻi<\/span> astronomy serves critical planetary defense role<\/h2>\n

东精影业<\/abbr>\u2019s Pan-STARRS1 telescope on Haleakal\u0101 is the world leader in finding larger Near-Earth Objects that could pose a threat to the planet. IfA<\/abbr> astronomers who operate the observatory on Maui play a fundamental role in the nation\u2019s planetary defense program. In 2017, during routine operations, Pan-STARRS discovered the mysterious interstellar object, ʻOumuamua<\/span>, the very first of its kind spotted in the solar system.<\/p>\n