Rich Kowalski, an astronomer from the Catalina Sky Survey of the University of Arizona's Lunar and Planetary Laboratory has spotted an asteroid heading directly to our planet.
Kowalski was able to spot the asteroid by using the 60-inch telescope mounted on Mount Lemmon. This particular asteroid is about the size of a car and was named as 2014 AA. 2014 AA is predicted to enter our atmosphere over the Atlantic Ocean, just off the coast of West Africa on January 1. The asteroid will probably burn completely before hitting the ground.
Kowalski shared the night night he found the asteroid with AZ Daily Star star, he said was working alone and was doing some routine check. When he saw 2014 AA, he immediately reported his observations to the Minor Planet Cente which serves as a database for all information about comets, asteroids, minor planets, and other cosmic bodies.
Sky Survey Director Eric Christensen said that the trajectory of the asteroid was later calculated and confirmed by three different groups of experts.
In 2008, Kowalsky also spotted Asteroid 2008 TC3. 2008 TC3 burned up over the skies of Sudan when it entered our atmosphere. Since then, many fragments of the rock, known as the AlmahataSitta, have been discovered.
The Catalina Sky Survey has two telescopes, software that helps them detect foreign objects, and a dedicated telescope time from the world's largest observatories. According to Professor Timothy Swindle who also heads the laboratory, their job is to find cosmic bodies headed towards our planet and notify authorities.
"These two they've found are little ones, but their real job is to find ones that may be dangerous," Professor Swindle told AZ Daily Star. "The trick is to find them before they find us, which is what they're trying to do."
Everyday, thousands of meteorites enter our planet yet they are usually too small to make an observable impact. However, the Catalina Sky Survey will always be on the lookout to make sure that we get ready in case a dangerous, large asteroid may be heading our way.
