American astronomers from the University of Maryland have discovered that a group of asteroids called the Taurid swarm drifting near the Earth pose less of a threat to our planet than previously thought. The research results were presented at the annual meeting of the American Astronomical Society (AAS).
Taurids are believed to be fragments of the large comet Encke. They can be observed from Earth in October and November. According to some scientists, the debris cloud may hide dangerous asteroids that could fall on Earth, ranging in size from 1 to 100 kilometers. Therefore, the Taurus received the terrible nickname “Doomsday Herd”.
In the new study, the team used the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF) telescope to observe the cosmic flow approaching our planet.
According to astronomers, the risk of a collision with an asteroid from the Taurid swarm turned out to be much lower than initial assumptions. They noted that the parent object of the cloud was probably no more than 10 kilometers in diameter and therefore could not form fragments 10 times its size.
Despite the encouraging results, the researchers called for continued vigilance and improvement of the asteroid early detection system.
Previous scientists I learnedthat a cosmic nuclear explosion could blow a dangerous asteroid away from Earth.
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Source: Gazeta
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