Asteroid-Hunting Spacecraft Delivers a Second Year of Data

NASA | APRIL 6, 2016

NASA's Near-Earth Object Wide-field Survey Explorer (NEOWISE) mission has released its second year of survey data. The spacecraft has now characterized a total of 439 NEOs since the mission was re-started in December 2013. Of these, 72 were new discoveries.

Asteroids and comets observed by NASA's NEOWISE mission. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/JHU

Near-Earth Objects (NEOs) are comets and asteroids that have been nudged by the gravitational attraction of the giant planets in our solar system into orbits that allow them to enter Earth's neighborhood. Eight of the objects discovered in the past year have been classified as potentially hazardous asteroids (PHAs), based on their size and how closely their orbits approach Earth.

Since beginning its survey in December 2013, NEOWISE has measured more than 19,000 asteroids and comets at infrared wavelengths. More than 5.1 million infrared images of the sky were collected in the last year.

Originally called the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE), the spacecraft was launched in December 2009. It was placed in hibernation in 2011 after its primary mission was completed. In September 2013, it was reactivated, renamed NEOWISE and assigned a new mission: to assist NASA's efforts to identify the population of potentially hazardous near-Earth objects. NEOWISE also is characterizing previously known asteroids and comets to provide information about their sizes and compositions.

NEOWISE has discovered 250 new objects since its restart, including 72 near-Earth objects and four new comets.

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE

Methane-eating microorganisms help regulate emissions from wetlands

Though they occupy a small fraction of Earth's surface, freshwater wetlands are the largest natural source of methane emitted into the atmosphere. New research identifies an unexpected process that acts as a key gatekeeper in regulating methane emissions from these freshwater environments.

Fire control harms biodiversity in Brazilian savannah

Policies that prevent fires caused by people in El Cerrado (the Brazilian savannah) lead to biodiversity losses because they promote the expansion of forests with dense vegetation.

Novel Technology Uses Bacteria for Cleaning Water

A novel technology was developed by Indian-origin researchers that can clean water twice as fast as commercially available ultrafiltration membranes.

Elevated hormone flags liver problems in mice with methylmalonic acidemia

Researchers have discovered that a hormone, fibroblast growth factor 21, is extremely elevated in mice with liver disease that mimics the same condition in patients with methylmalonic acidemia, a serious genomic disorder.

Physicists discover long-sought 'pentaquark' particle

CERN's Large Hadron Collider announced that researchers discovered a remarkable class of particles known as pentaquarks that could reshape scientists' understanding about the properties of matter.

Researchers find preserving spotted owl habitat may not require a tradeoff with wildfire risk after all

Scientists have found a way to resolve the conflict that has sprung up between protecting forests from increasingly frequent wildfires and droughts and preserving sufficient habitat for the endangered spotted owl, Strix occidentalis.