Infrared Eye to Help Search for Asteroids

Infrared Eye to Help Search for Asteroids

dsc.discovery.com

Aug. 31, 2009 -- NASA is preparing to launch an infrared telescope named WISE that could indeed live up to its name. Among its targets: dark asteroids that have slipped beneath the radar of an ongoing project to map objects larger than 1 kilometer that orbit near Earth.

Hunting asteroids wasn't in the original plan for the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, known by the acronym WISE, which arrived at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California this month for launch preparations.

(visit the link for the full news article)

WISE will be able to spot asteroids emitting heat due to direct exposure from the sun, as opposed to visible-light searches that find asteroids that are reflecting sunlight.

"Those are two different physical effects," said McMillan. "An asteroid that has very dark color in invisible light is going to get heated up more, just like a black car in a parking lot is going to get heated up more than a white car."

It looks like we will be getting a new tool to look for "killer" asteroids. This one will look for infrared to locate "hidden" asteroids that do not reflect enough light to be detected through current means. Just thought I would share with y'all

Here is an additional link with information on the Wide-field Infrared Survey:

wise.ssl.berkeley.edu...

Enjoy!

dsc.discovery.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/0d03ff9ec720.jpg[/atsimg]

[edit on 31-8-2009 by Aggie Man]

When I saw this I immediately thought of this thread: NASA can't keep up with killer asteroids where, we don't know where about 14,000 potential threat asteroids and comets the size of the Superdome are because of the lack of $800 million (with a M and not a B or T) over 12 years, and yet we spend trillions on bailouts of banks (that we don't know where it was used) over 3 years. I thought, well this is progress, but upon reading the article, I was surprised at this:

Hunting asteroids wasn't in the original plan for the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, known by the acronym WISE, which arrived at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California this month for launch preparations.

"I was recruited when the team realized they would be seeing a lot of asteroids, some of which may be new," said University of Texas astronomer Robert McMillan who leads Spacewatch, an asteroid-survey project.

I wonder, then what WAS the original plan? What were they looking for that was more important (obviously higher on their priority list because it was funded and built) than tracking 14,000 potential threat asteroids and comets the size of the Superdome?

[edit on 31/8/2009 by Iamonlyhuman]

Originally posted by Iamonlyhuman
I wonder, then what WAS the original plan? What were they looking for that was more important (obviously higher on their priority list because it was funded and built) than tracking 14,000 potential threat asteroids and comets the size of the Superdome?

Good question. From NASA:

WISE is an infrared space telescope like two currently orbiting missions, NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope and the Herschel Space Observatory, a European Space Agency mission with important NASA participation. But, unlike these missions, WISE will survey the entire sky. It is designed to cast a wide net to catch all sorts of unseen cosmic treasures. Millions of images from the survey will serve as rough maps for other observatories, such as Spitzer and NASA's upcoming James Webb Space Telescope, guiding them to intriguing targets.

"WISE will survey the cosmic landscape in the infrared so that future telescopes can home in on the most interesting 'properties,'" said Edward Wright, the principal investigator for the mission at UCLA.

The infrared surveyor will pick up the heat from a cornucopia of objects, both near and far. It will find hundreds of thousands of new asteroids in our main asteroid belt, and hundreds of near-Earth objects, which are comets and asteroids with orbits that pass relatively close to Earth. The mission will uncover the coldest stars, called brown dwarfs, perhaps even one closer to us than our closest known neighbor, Proxima Centauri, which is 4 light-years away. More distant finds will include nurseries of stars, swirling planet-building disks and the universe's most luminous galaxies billions of light-years away.

SOURCE: www.jpl.nasa.gov...

I find the underlined statement quite interesting.

[edit on 31-8-2009 by Aggie Man]

Originally posted by Aggie Man

The mission will uncover the coldest stars, called brown dwarfs, perhaps even one closer to us than our closest known neighbor, Proxima Centauri, which is 4 light-years away. More distant finds will include nurseries of stars, swirling planet-building disks and the universe's most luminous galaxies billions of light-years away.

SOURCE: www.jpl.nasa.gov...

I find the underlined statement quite interesting.

Yes indeed. Hmmm... brown drawrfs closer to us than our closest known neighbor... sounds like a certain conspiracy theory to me.

Perhaps you should change the title of this thread, I can't believe it hasn't gotten more responses, this really could be important.

[edit on 31/8/2009 by Iamonlyhuman]

Originally posted by Iamonlyhuman
Yes indeed. Hmmm... brown drawrfs closer to us than our closest known neighbor... sounds like a certain conspiracy theory to me.

Perhaps you should change the title of this thread, I can't believe it hasn't gotten more responses, this really could be important.

[edit on 31/8/2009 by Iamonlyhuman]

Ding, ding, ding! I thought the same thing...but I don't want to get flamed by the Nibiru/2012 debunkers. AND, I would change the title, BUT...that is the title of the article...I think that would be a T&C violation.

reply to post by Aggie Man


You're right.. too bad it's in breaking alternative news, maybe you could ask a mod to move it so you can change the title.

I never really gave Nibiru theories much thought but obviously I am aware that there is the controversy. To me, this one story adds a whole new dimension to the credibility of such a thing happening.

[edit on 31/8/2009 by Iamonlyhuman]

Originally posted by Aggie Man

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/0d03ff9ec720.jpg[/atsimg]

[edit on 31-8-2009 by Aggie Man]

What I would like to know is, why are they sending R2-D2 up there?


Roy.

LOL roypseed iw as gunan sayt he same thing! their sending r2d2 up!!

I started another thread on this because I thought it was important and it stinks that because of a title nobody will read this. I hope you don't mind Aggie Man, great work!!

It's here: Evidence NASA may be looking for Nibiru

Originally posted by Iamonlyhuman
I started another thread on this because I thought it was important and it stinks that because of a title nobody will read this. I hope you don't mind Aggie Man, great work!!

It's here: Evidence NASA may be looking for Nibiru

I don't mind at all. I meant to u2u you and tell you that.