Feb 19, 2024 03:05 AM
https://www.space.com/solar-system-inter...-lsst-jwst
EXCERPTS: Visitors from beyond the solar system — interstellar travelers — have long been predicted by science fiction writers like Arthur C. Clarke, but in reality, it's not so easy to identify what we're seeing — or just how many interstellar space rocks, or spaceships, are in Earth's neighborhood at a given time...
[...] 'Oumuamua displayed no comet-like tail, but still moved under its own propulsion.
[...] If only we'd had the JWST when 'Oumuamua was discovered, we would have been able to take more detailed images of the object and get information about how it looked in different wavelengths of light.
[...] In the future, the JWST won't be the only powerful tool in our toolkit. The LSST, set to come online in the next year or so, should detect many more interstellar objects and be able to identify dark comets in our own solar system. Located in the Atacama Desert, a prime spot for viewing the heavens, the LSST will start scanning the entire Southern Hemisphere sky almost every night.
The LSST will be able to spot much fainter objects than any of our surveys that currently monitor the entire sky for rapidly moving objects. It will be able to detect mysterious objects like 'Oumuamua that are dimmer, either because they are smaller or farther away from the Earth. The LSST will also be able to find many more smaller asteroids, and will be able to spot if they are dark comets and moving under their own propulsion.
It's possible that when the LSST makes first light, we will start detecting interstellar objects on a monthly — or even weekly — basis. Some of these may be dark like 'Oumuamua, and some may be brighter with beautiful tails, like the second interstellar comet, 2I/Borisov.
It may turn out that the sky close to the Earth is teeming with interstellar objects even smaller than 'Oumuamua, all of which were invisible up until now. These small interstellar visitors could quite plausibly be continuously whizzing through the Earth's neighborhood within the solar system. If that ends up happening, then the LSST might spot an interstellar target close enough for a dedicated space mission... (MORE - missing details)
EXCERPTS: Visitors from beyond the solar system — interstellar travelers — have long been predicted by science fiction writers like Arthur C. Clarke, but in reality, it's not so easy to identify what we're seeing — or just how many interstellar space rocks, or spaceships, are in Earth's neighborhood at a given time...
[...] 'Oumuamua displayed no comet-like tail, but still moved under its own propulsion.
[...] If only we'd had the JWST when 'Oumuamua was discovered, we would have been able to take more detailed images of the object and get information about how it looked in different wavelengths of light.
[...] In the future, the JWST won't be the only powerful tool in our toolkit. The LSST, set to come online in the next year or so, should detect many more interstellar objects and be able to identify dark comets in our own solar system. Located in the Atacama Desert, a prime spot for viewing the heavens, the LSST will start scanning the entire Southern Hemisphere sky almost every night.
The LSST will be able to spot much fainter objects than any of our surveys that currently monitor the entire sky for rapidly moving objects. It will be able to detect mysterious objects like 'Oumuamua that are dimmer, either because they are smaller or farther away from the Earth. The LSST will also be able to find many more smaller asteroids, and will be able to spot if they are dark comets and moving under their own propulsion.
It's possible that when the LSST makes first light, we will start detecting interstellar objects on a monthly — or even weekly — basis. Some of these may be dark like 'Oumuamua, and some may be brighter with beautiful tails, like the second interstellar comet, 2I/Borisov.
It may turn out that the sky close to the Earth is teeming with interstellar objects even smaller than 'Oumuamua, all of which were invisible up until now. These small interstellar visitors could quite plausibly be continuously whizzing through the Earth's neighborhood within the solar system. If that ends up happening, then the LSST might spot an interstellar target close enough for a dedicated space mission... (MORE - missing details)