Although the sky looks calm when viewed from Earth, there are thousands of asteroids straying and surrendering to gravitational forces. Scientists are trying to keep many of these stones under observation.
But on the 13th of July, something very interesting happened. The asteroid 2023 NT1, with a diameter of 60 meters, passed closer to the Earth than our satellite Moon. The frightening thing is that this meteorite was detected only on July 15, when it passed close to Earth.
The sun prevented us from observing the meteorite!
- Gray line: Moon’s orbit, Green line: 2023 NT1’s path.
According to NASA data, the meteorite passed near the Earth at a speed of about 86 thousand kilometers per hour. But this transition took place at the same time that meteor tracking telescopes were looking directly at the Sun.
The light from the Sun greatly reduced the view of the telescopes. For this reason, the whole world was unaware of this situation when the meteorite passed. The event was discovered thanks to the telescope, which is part of the Asteroid Terrestrial Impact Final Warning System in South Africa.
The telescope, which is responsible for detecting meteorites that are at risk of hitting the Earth days and weeks ago, caught 2023 NT1 only as it moved away from Earth. Dozens more telescopes soon observed 2023 NT1.
The estimated 10-year trajectory of 2023 NT1 reveals that it is not at risk of colliding with Earth. In other words, even if we had detected the meteorite beforehand, the situation would not have been much different.
So, isn’t something being done against the situation that prevents us from observing meteorites?
This isn’t the first scenario where the Sun has prevented us from observing meteorites. For this reason, the scientific world continues to work to keep these independent structures under constant surveillance. The European Space Agency plans to launch a telescope that will be placed between the Sun and Earth in 2030.
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