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April 29 (UPI) – The ongoing Gaia investigation has uncovered a trio of new asteroids in the solar system.
The Gaia Mission is an astronomers' effort to compile the largest and most accurate 3D space catalog in history. Most of the space telescope's targets are distant stars, but the observatory can also recover objects closer to Earth, including asteroids.
The majority of Gaia-identified asteroids are already known, but astronomers have discovered three new asteroids among Gaia's late-year observations. The three new asteroids were confirmed by observations made with the aid of the Haute-Provence observatory in France.
The three space rocks are all asteroids of the main belt, but the inclination of their orbits is slightly crooked, which distinguishes them from their neighbors.
"The population of asteroids also inclined is not as well studied as that of less inclined orbits, since most surveys tend to focus on the plane where the majority of asteroids, "reported the European Space Agency. "But Gaia can easily observe them by sweeping the entire sky from its point of space observation, so it is possible that the satellite will find other objects of this type in the future and provide new information. to study their properties. "
An online warning system that analyzes Gaia data for potential discoveries and idiosyncrasies allows astronomers around the world to keep abreast of remarkable discoveries. After receiving an alert, scientists can deploy other observatories for follow-up imaging.
"Once an asteroid detected by Gaia has also been identified in the ground observations, the scientists responsible for the alert system analyze the data to determine the orbit of the object", said ESA. "If the ground observations correspond to the orbit based on Gaia's data, they provide this information to the Minor Planet Center, the official world organization that collects observational data for small bodies of the solar system such as asteroids and comets. "
Although all the asteroids identified up to now by Gaia are inhabitants of the main asteroid belt, it is possible that the space observatory can spot objects close to the Earth. Space agencies around the world are working hard to identify and track more effectively the trajectories of potentially hazardous space rocks.
This week, federal agencies from the United States, as well as several international partners, are participating in an impact exercise on asteroids at the 2019 Planetary Defense Conference as part of the table exercise. , participants reacted to a fictitious scenario impact impact of near-Earth object.
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