Megaconstellations are corrupting astronomers’ view of space and could impact planetary defences against incoming space debris

A union of astronomers is taking action to protect the study of the night sky from the effects of the thousands of satellites launched by companies such as SpaceX.

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The rapid decline of the Hopewell culture about 1,500 years ago might be explained by falling debris from a near-Earth comet that created a devastating explosion over North America, laying waste to forests and Native American villages alike.

Researchers with the University of Cincinnati found evidence of a cosmic airburst at 11 Hopewell archaeological sites in three states stretching across the Ohio River Valley.

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The NASA-funded Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS)-a state-of-the-art asteroid detection system operated by the University of Hawaii (UH) Institute for Astronomy (IfA) for the agency’s Planetary Defense Coordination Office (PDCO)-has reached a new milestone by becoming the first survey capable of searching the entire dark sky every 24 hours for near-Earth objects (NEOs) that could pose a future impact hazard to Earth.

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Asteroids fly through our solar system all the time, but it’s rare for us to take notice of them. But that’s changed this week, as an asteroid passes within 1,231,184 miles of Earth on January 18. The asteroid, dubbed 7482 (1994 PC1),

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NEA Scout will visit an asteroid estimated to be smaller than a school bus – the smallest asteroid ever to be studied by a spacecraft.

Launching with the Artemis I uncrewed test flight, NASA’s shoebox-size Near-Earth Asteroid Scout will chase down what will become the smallest asteroid ever to be visited by a spacecraft.

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This is a surprisingly good piece in the Sun!

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/17253271/brit-tracks-nearby-asteroids-nasa-save-humanity-apocalypse/

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Earlier, NASA said that Apophis – the poster child for “hazardous asteroids” – was no longer deemed a threat for Earth based on a refined estimate of its orbit around the Sun.

Asteroid 99942 Apophis, estimated to measure 340 metres (1,100 ft) across and identified by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as one of the most hazardous asteroids that could impact Earth,

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A new University of Liverpool study has found that the minerology of the rocks that a meteorite hits, rather than the size of the impact, determines how deadly an impact it will have.

The earth has been bombarded by meteorites throughout its long history.

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For Hollywood A-listers Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence, their new end-of-the-world comedy was a chance to send a little respect back to scientists.

In “Don’t Look Up”, released on December 24 on Netflix, they play two astronomers who discover a comet will wipe out life on Earth within six months,

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The new system improves the capabilities of NASA JPL’s Center for Near Earth Object Studies to assess the impact risk of asteroids that can come close to our planet.

To date, nearly 28,000 near-Earth asteroids (NEAs) have been found by survey telescopes that continually scan the night sky,

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