3 Questions: Richard Binzel on the discovery of three large, near-Earth asteroids
Last week, scientists in MIT’s Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences helped characterize three large, near-Earth asteroids, two of which measure about 12 miles in diameter — the largest asteroids to have been discovered in 23 years. The smallest of the three asteroids measures little more than a mile across, but it may pass within 3.4 million miles of Earth, making it a “potentially hazardous asteroid.” The team made their measurements using NASA’s Infrared Telescope Facility in Hawaii as part of a project devoted to determining the compositions of new comets and asteroids relatively close to Earth. While these newest asteroids pose little danger to our planet in the near future, they possess some unusual features. MIT News spoke with Richard Binzel, a professor of planetary sciences, about his team’s measurements, and the likelihood of a close encounter.Q: What are you able to tell about these three asteroids from...