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A University of Hawaii telescope has just played an important role in locating a harmless asteroid that exploded over Africa last month, realizing with a process that could one day save lives. System, or ATLAS, telescope took pictures of the asteroid, called "2018 LA" before entering the Earth 's atmosphere on June 2. This helped an international team of scientists determine its final destination. showed that the LA of 2018 struck Madagascar's Land in the South Pacific – a range covering almost half of the southern hemisphere of the Earth. "UH said in a press release
But ATLAS photographed the asteroid five hours before the explosion.The accuracy of these predictions.This helped to prove that a meteor brilliantly seen later on Botswana was, in fact, LA in 2018.
A security video shows 2018 LA exploding on Botswana on June 2. (Video: Barend Swanepoel and Vicus Van Zyl) [19659003] UH says that the event was particularly satisfying because the scientists did not point ATLAS towards the asteroid that night, the telescope found 2018 LA by itself, which was
"This is an excellent test of the system," said ATLAS principal investigator, Larry Denneau, in a press release. "We have confirmed that ATLAS can find Si 2018 impactors had been big enough to cause a dangerous explosion, like the asteroid that hit the R ussie in 2013, we would have had enough warning that people could evacuate the area of impact. "19659003] UH says ATLAS is currently discovering about 100 asteroids over 30 meters each year.
"If it was an asteroid of this size that would have enough energy to destroy a city like Honolulu, for the first time in history, astronomers could give enough of an amount. warning to remove people from the site of impact "
ATLAS is composed of two telescopes, one in Haleakala on Maui, the other in Mauna Loa on the island of Big Island .
Copyright 2018 Hawaii News Now. All rights reserved.
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