Travelers in the Night Eps. 891 & 892: 2026 AA & 140 Meter Asteroids

Dr. Al Grauer hosts. Dr. Albert D. Grauer ( @Nmcanopus ) is an observational asteroid hunting astronomer. Dr. Grauer retired from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock in 2006. travelersinthenight.org

From March 2026.

Today's 2 topics:

- My Catalina Sky Survey teammate Tracie Beuden was observing with our Schmidt telescope on Mt. Bigelow, Arizona in the constellation of Perseus when she found 2026-AA, the first asteroid of 2026. Asteroid hunters are trying to track Tracie's discovery with our number on it far enough in advance so humans could give it a tiny nudge and make it miss Earth.

- Humans can mitigate the damage done by the impact of an asteroid given a sufficient lead time. In 1998, the US Congress mandated NASA to detect and track 90% of the 1 km sized asteroids capable of effecting local mass destruction as well as global disruption of agriculture and other human activities. This goal has been accomplished. In 2005 Congress extended the mandate to require NASA to detect and track 90% of the 140-m asteroids capable of destroying a large metropolitan area.

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