Edit: This was in fact visible - there is at least one video out there from much further from the likely impact in Cape Cod Bay
Why stop at 200 years? It's also 300 years and 400 years, or 4 billion years :P
<https://www.etymonline.com/word/asteroid>.
There not having been a need for it before.
Afaik it's not unusual for truck-sized objects to woosh past Earth, detected only after their pass. Or just days before. Weeks if lucky. Not a timespan in which one could mount a divert-mission.
Possibly this applies to bigger objects too? Some objects have a very dark surface & are very hard to detect in any case.
Prunkton•13h ago
NitpickLawyer•13h ago
[1] - https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2024/12/vera-rub...
prpl•6h ago
NitpickLawyer•5h ago
Anyway, here's what the oficial FAQ [1] says about the process, they are trying to remove them all, but not always succeeding.
> Streak detection is implemented in the Rubin data processing pipelines, and occurs in two main portions of the pipeline. First, pixels associated with detected streaks are identified in the image mask plane and excluded from contributing to the deep coadded images. Second, sources identified in regions associated with streaks or glint trains are flagged during image subtraction and not used to create new difference imaging objects. In addition, alerts are only sent for detected difference-image sources that do not coincide with known satellite sky locations.
> Signatures from satellites may appear in LSST data products despite the Rubin Data Management team’s best efforts. Difference imaging catalogs have some flag columns which are designed to indicate sources that may be affected by streaks or glints (e.g., look for columns with “streak” or “glint” in their name). The IAU CPS SatHub has developed NOIRLab-hosted tools that may be useful for scientists working with Rubin data products.
[1] - https://rubinobservatory.org/for-scientists/frequently-asked...
Jach•13h ago
WithinReason•12h ago
"Simulations of the LSST observing cadence and 40,000 LEO satellites show that about 10% of all LSST images would contain at least one satellite trail"
"Satellites and debris dimmer than 6th to 7th visual magnitude still cause streaks and glints, but typically leave the rest of the pixels scientifically usable."
thrownthatway•10h ago
The surface of the Earth is big. If you place 40,000 car sized objects on it in random places, you’d not be able to see then from low earth orbit.
That’s approximately how irrelevant they are in the sky.
thombat•10h ago
rigonkulous•6h ago
Especially[0] if we can blast the thing out of the sky, one of these days ..
[0] - https://c.tenor.com/o9t2JYNU4LYAAAAd/tenor.gif
hgoel•1h ago