Who’s Watching for Asteroids Headed Toward Earth

Asteroids have pummeled the earth for millions of years. But the evidence of any impact doesn’t generally last for very long (in geological time). That’s because the earth’s weather erodes the craters that are caused by the asteroid impacts. However, that’s not the case for the moon. When you look at a close up picture of the moon, the craters, (formed from asteroids slamming into it) last for millions of years because there is no weather to erode these craters.

Asteroids will continue to hit the earth in the future. And if an asteroid is big enough, it will have devastating consequences for life on earth. There is a branch of NASA that looks into space to identify and keep track of this threat. As Earthsky.org says, “Bottom line: Asteroid heading toward Earth? NASA’s Center for Near-Earth Object Studies – now entering its 3rd decade – makes over 90 percent of near-Earth asteroid and comet discoveries”
Here’s the complete article on what they do: http://earthsky.org/space/asteroid-tracking-center-for-near-earth-object-studies?utm_source=EarthSky+News&utm_campaign=22496f004f-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_02_02_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_c643945d79-22496f004f-395281113

Categories: Weather Blog