NASA's asteroid detection system ATLAS can now search entire dark sky every 24 hours

With the addition of two new observatories in South Africa and Chile, the ATLAS system has expanded its reach to the southern hemisphere from the two existing northern-hemisphere telescopes on Haleakalā and Maunaloa in Hawai'i. Each of ATLAS' four telescopes is capable to image a swath of sky 100 times larger than the full moon in a single exposure.

The NASA-funded asteroid detection system, ATLAS, has become the first survey capable of searching the entire dark sky every 24 hours for near-Earth objects (NEOs), the agency said on Tuesday.

ATLAS, short for Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System, is an asteroid impact early warning system developed by the University of Hawaii Institute for Astronomy (IfA) for NASA's Planetary Defense Coordination Office (PDCO). The asteroid detection system can detect potentially hazardous NEOs and provide a warning time depending on their size.

With the addition of two new observatories in South Africa and Chile, the ATLAS system has expanded its reach to the southern hemisphere from the two existing northern-hemisphere telescopes on Haleakalā and Maunaloa in Hawai'i. Each of ATLAS' four telescopes is capable to image a swath of sky 100 times larger than the full moon in a single exposure.

"An important part of planetary defence is finding asteroids before they find us, so if necessary, we can get them before they get us. With the addition of these two telescopes, ATLAS is now capable of searching the entire dark sky every 24 hours, making it an important asset for NASA's continuous effort to find, track, and monitor NEOs," said Kelly Fast, Near-Earth Object Observations Program Manager for NASA's PDCO.

ATLAS @fallingstarIfA, a @NASA-funded #asteroid detection system operated by @UHIfA for our #PlanetaryDefense Coordination Office, is now the first survey capable of searching the entire dark sky every 24 hours for Near-Earth Objects (#NEOs).Learn More: https://t.co/rJ6M7GofxO pic.twitter.com/9V1V5cu4tJ

— NASA Asteroid Watch (@AsteroidWatch) January 31, 2022

So far, the ATLAS system has discovered more than 700 near-Earth asteroids (NEAs) and 66 comets. Late last month, ATLAS-Sutherland in South Africa discovered its first NEO, 2022 BK, a 100-meter asteroid that poses no threat to Earth.

In addition to ATLAS, NASA has deployed other systems like DART and NEO Surveyor to defend Earth against potential asteroid impacts.