OPENSPACE 24: The Future of Space Exploration | Page 35

How do experts clasify NEOs?
The Palermo Scale ranks the known asteroids in terms of
the risk they pose. This number is calculated based on the
asteroid’s impact probability and time, as well as the energy
release: the higher the number, the greater the risk. Actual
scale values of less than −2 reflect events for which there
are no likely consequences, while values between −2 and 0
indicate situations that merit careful monitoring .
The Top Three Risks
1 2 3
2010RF12 1979 XB 2000 SG344
Size: 7-16m Size: 600-1300 m Size: 30-80m
Possible impact: 05-09-2095 Possible impact: 14-12-2113 Possible impact: 16-09-2071
Palermo Scale: -3.26 Palermo Scale: -3.28 Palermo scale: -3.63
The approach of the 2012 TC4 asteroid provided
scientists with a chance to test the international
asteroid detection and tracking network. What can
we learn from the approach? from the ground on such an object. We can determine the
Over 50 astronomers expressed interest in the campaign, surface structure, and more. All this information provides a
and almost a dozen observatories have provided complete characterization of the object’s properties, including
observations of the object. The goal of the campaign all the information that would have been essential to
was to get data with the widest variety of instruments, understand impact effects and plan mitigation procedures
observational techniques, and wavelengths in order to on the ground in case the object had been in an actual
gather the entire amount of information that can be collected impact trajectory.
trajectory of the asteroid to an extremely accurate level,
and also the size of the object, its rotational period and
orientation, its density, thermal properties, composition,
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