Novel Warning System Proposed for Near-Earth Asteorids
Scientists may have discovered a new and revolutionary method to provide Earth with advance warning of potentially dangerous space rocks that could take aim on our planet. By carefully observing changes in streams of plasma from the sun or particles in the solar wind, new research suggests, it could be possible to identify small but threatening near-Earth objects like the Chelyabinsk meteor that exploded over Russia in 2013.
The technique would rely on the magnetic field disturbances that occur in the solar wind when it interacts with positively charged particles left over from collisions of larger objects orbiting the sun.
UCLA researchers say existing spacecraft instruments could map these disturbances over long periods of time, revealing which objects pose the greatest threat of colliding with Earth.
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