IfA Plays Important Role in NASA DART Mission
NASA is preparing to crash a spacecraft the size of a school bus into an asteroid to assess if a deliberate impact can deflect objects on a collision course with Earth. The University of Hawaiʻi Institute for Astronomy (IfA) is playing an important role in the space...
UH-discovered Earth Trojan asteroid is largest to date
An asteroid bigger than the UH Mānoa campus, discovered by our Pan-STARRS telescope, is only the second-known object of its kind ever found. The near-Earth object, asteroid 2020 XL5, is an Earth Trojan asteroid, which is an asteroid companion to Earth that orbits the...
Just Look Up: Expanded UH asteroid tracking system can monitor entire sky
A state-of-the-art asteroid alert system operated by the IfA can now scan the entire dark sky every 24 hours for dangerous bodies that could plummet toward Earth. The NASA-funded Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) has expanded its reach to the...
UH astronomers use local ship to prepare for Antarctic eclipse expedition
The next total solar eclipse is December 4, but there’s no easy way to view it because totality will be over Antarctica! IfA Astronomer Shadia Habbal has partnered with local company Atlantis Cruises, to test their equipment on its vessel, the Majestic.
Fastest Asteroid Around the Sun Discovered
A team including University of Hawaiʻi Institute for Astronomy (IfA) astronomer David Tholen has discovered an asteroid with the shortest known orbital period around the Sun – only 113 days.