'Potentially Hazardous' Asteroid Discovered by Hawaii Telescope

Sept. 29, 2010 - PRLog -- In June the Pan Starrr telescope became operational in Hawaii. Designed to pick out potentially dangerous or hazardous comets and meteorites, it has already discovered its first potentially dangerous asteroid.

The Asteroid, named “2010 ST3”, is about 150 feet wide and it is expected to pass by the planet sometime in mid October. The object holds no immediate threat to Earth but is being classified as 'potentially hazardous'. Though its danger is slight it may still be worth keeping a watch on.

"There is a very slight possibility that ST3 will hit Earth in 2098, so it is definitely worth watching," said Robert Jedicke, a scientist who works with the Pan Starrr Ps1 telescope.

When scientists calculate the movements of an asteroid there is always a good degree of uncertainty as to the exact measurement. There is a huge volume of space that 2010 St3 could be in 2098, and it so happens that Earth is in part of that huge volume of space.

The effect of such an asteroid could be rather devastating; a meteor around about the same size was responsible for creating a 1.5 km crater in Arizona.  But there is no major need to worry, the odds really very slight. In fact many have been pleased by the news as it shows the capability of this new telescope.

Though only a prototype, some pundits are delighted to hear of its success. The Pan Star PS1 telescope is located on the top of a Maui mountain and has a 1.8 metre scope, but most impressively, a 1.4 gigapixel camera, that is a staggering 1.4 billion pixels.

This investment in technology seems to have paid off; though only operative for a few months it has already isolated its first, distant threat. And while the news of a meteor that may be earth bound may not be so reassuring, the news of its slightness offers reassurance and furthermore there is the reassurance that due to this latest innovation is that we can spot such minor threats so early.

2010 ST3 would not have been found by other asteroid surveys. This means as time goes on PAN Starrrs will be able to find many other previously un-discoverable threats much quicker. The telescope gives us a much better chance to glean an astrological future.

When asteroids are found, scientists need to keep a good eye on them if they are considered threatening. 2010 ST3 seems mostly benign, at least for the time being but now at least it is implanted on our radar.

Pan Starrrs is expected to discover about 100 000 asteroids over the course of the next three years. 85% of the large asteroids that travel past earth have already been discovered and only 15% of these pose a threat and they have been tracked.

Large asteroids very seldom crash in to earth and it is estimated they crash once every few thousand years.

While now the foremost asteroid lookout point in the world, Maui in Hawaii remains a popular tourist destination with Hawaii rentals proving a hit with tourists.

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