Could Asteroids Pose a Danger to Our Planet?

At the NEO Coordination Centre in Italy, experts from the European Space Agency (ESA) are consistently working to identify asteroid hazards in order to implement necessary safety measures. They evaluate multiple factors, such as the trajectory, size, estimated mass, and composition of the asteroids, to determine the potential risks they may pose.

According to the ESA, some asteroids are massive and could cause significant destruction if they hit Earth, their overall population in our solar system is relatively small, and more than 90% have been detected and tracked. There are currently no known asteroids. are of immediate concern, but many remain undiscovered, necessitating continued searches.

Some asteroids are very small, less than 10 meters in diameter, and only a small fraction of their estimated population has been found. These smaller ones pose no threat if they hit Earth.

The real concern, however, is in medium-sized asteroids, ranging from tens to hundreds of meters in diameter. There are numerous asteroids in this size class that go undetected.

If one of them hits the Earth, it could cause significant damage to a city or populated area. However, if we identify these asteroids early, we can accurately predict their impact point and take measures to protect people.

A small space center

Observations from various sources worldwide, including ESA’s Optical Ground Station, European observatories and amateur astronomers, as well as incoming data from ESA’s Flyeye and Test-Bed telescopes, are sent to the Minor Planet Center in the United States, which serves as the International Asteroid Centre. data.ESA’s Near-Earth Object Coordination Center and NASA’s Center for Near-Earth Object Studies use this data to determine the orbits of potentially dangerous asteroids and assess their risk level.