Asteroid detection for the entire night sky is now operational

The Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) system can now survey the entire night sky.

The ATLAS system is funded by NASA and run by the University of Hawai'i and initially comprised two telescopes that became fully operational in 2017. The telescopes were based in two different locations in Hawai'i, Haleakala, and Maunaloa, and were able to scan the night sky for asteroids every 24 hours. However, they are limited to only observing the night sky visible from the northern hemisphere.

Now, NASA funding has resulted in the completion of two more telescopes, both located in the southern hemisphere. The first was built in South Africa by the South African Astronomical Observatory. The second was built in Chile, supported by a collaboration between the Millennium Institute for Astrophysics and the private company Obstech.

On January 22nd, 2022, the telescope from the South African observatory identified its first Near-Earth Asteroid (NEA), dubbed 2022 BK. The asteroid is 100 meters across and currently poses no threat to Earth. The ATLAS system will continue to work with other systems such as Pan-STARRS and the Catalina Sky Survey to ensure we know as much about potential asteroid threats as possible.