Space-Scanning Algorithm Spots ‘Potentially Hazardous’ 600-Foot Asteroid

An asteroid-hunting algorithm called HelioLinc3D has spotted a potentially hazardous 600-foot-long space rock that’s currently about 4 astronomical units from Earth. The asteroid is 2022 SF289 and “swings by Earth on the opposite side of its orbit, classifying it as a potentially hazardous asteroid (or PHA),” reports Gizmodo.

“Potentially hazardous” merely means there is some chance the object could impact Earth, and thus it is worth keeping an eye on. What’s significant about 2022 SF289 is not that it is hazardous, but that it was spotted by a new algorithm called HelioLinc3D. The recent asteroid spotting demonstrated that the algorithm can detect near-Earth asteroids with fewer observations than traditional methods. Because the Rubin Observatory is not yet up and running, HelioLinc3D was tested using the University of Hawaii’s ATLAS survey.

“By demonstrating the real-world effectiveness of the software that Rubin will use to look for thousands of yet-unknown potentially hazardous asteroids, the discovery of 2022 SF289 makes us all safer,” said Ari Heinze, a scientist and researcher at the Rubin Observatory and the University of Washington, and the principal developer of the new algorithm, in a university release. “This is just a small taste of what to expect with the Rubin Observatory in less than two years, when HelioLinc3D will be discovering an object like this every night,” said Mario Juric, a scientist at the Rubin Observatory, director of the DiRAC Institute, astronomer at the University of Washington, and leader of the team behind HelioLinc3D, in the same release.

“From HelioLinc3D to AI-assisted codes, the next decade of discovery will be a story of advancement in algorithms as much as in new, large, telescopes,” Juric added. The Rubin Observatory is now expected to commence its observations in early 2025, though we’ll have to wait and see if that timeline sticks.