The NASA-funded Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) has become first survey capable of searching entire dark sky for near-Earth objects (NEOs), every 24 hours.

Key Facts

• ATLAS is a state-of-the-art asteroid detection system. It is operated by University of Hawai‘i (UH) Institute for Astronomy(IfA) for Planetary Defense Coordination Office (PDCO) of NASA.
• ATLAS has expanded its reach to southern hemisphere by including two additional observatories in Chile and South Africa. It now comprises of four telescopes.
• It has two existing northern-hemisphere telescopes on Haleakala and Maunaloa in Hawai‘i.
• ATLAS is now capable of searching entire dark sky every 24 hours. Thus, it has become an important asset for NASA’s continuous effort for finding, tracking and monitoring NEOs.

Who developed ATLAS?

First two ATLAS telescopes were developed in Hawai‘I, by UH IfA. It was developed under a 2013 grant from NASA’s Near-Earth Objects Observations Program. Now, these telescopes are part of NASA’s PDCO. The two facilities on Haleakala and Maunaloa, became fully operational in 2017.

By: Brijesh Kumar