The Unseen Menace
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| Part II) FORWORD. In Part I, we learned about near Earth objects and the threat they pose should they happen to cross our orbit at the wrong time. In the paragraphs ahead we will learn what mankind can do right now to prevent a devastating impact from happening. QUERY: If an optical surveillance system were to be put into place, what kind of instrumentation would be needed? The answer to that question was found one mid-May morning, sitting on a shelf, in an Indiana bookstore! While on a short hiatus, I went browsing for astronomy books and found a copy of Fire on Earth, by John and Mary Gribbin (1996). In the final chapter, I found the answer! If any serious surveillance is to be done, 6 to 8 telescopes would be needed each having an aperture of 2.5-meters. (The Mount Palomar telescope is 200-inches or 5-meters in diameter.) With three telescopes (in each hemisphere) the Earth would basically have 24-hour coverage (barring inclement weather, encroaching light pollution, mechanical failures, personnel problems, and moonlight). According to the figures published in the Gribbins' book, the initial cost was estimated to be approximately $50 million dollars and this was just to build a network of wide field telescopes for the 'Spaceguard 1' program. Thereafter, $10 million would be needed to maintain the program per year, which would run over a period of 20 to 30 years. The authors mentioned that if the 'Spaceguard 2' program were realized a narrow field telescope would be needed for each hemisphere, but each would be twice as large as those used in the 'Spaceguard 1' program and would be used to look for faint comets beyond Jupiter. QUERY: Is there any thing an amateur astronomer do to help? As I mentioned before (in a roundabout way) the Spacewatch program is understaffed and more manpower is desperately needed and from what I have read, the amateur astronomer can help with the project, providing he/she has a telescope ranging in size from 5-inches to 16-inches or better. Unfortunately, I still have not received replies to my letters of inquiry and am currently unable to provide the names and addresses of contacts should an amateur wish to help with the search for NEOs. List of Books. Finally, for those of you whose curiosity has now been aroused, I have included a list of book you may wish to read on the subject of impacts: Impact Earth: Asteroids, Comets, and Meteoroids, by Austen Atkinson. (1999) Rogue Asteroids and Doomsday Comets, by Duncan Steel. (1995) Cosmic Catastrophes, by Clark B. Chapman and David Morrison. (1989) Cosmic Catastrophes, by Gerrit L. Verschuur. (1978) IMPACT! The Threat of Comets and Asteroids, by Gerrit L. Verschuur. (1996) Comet and Asteroid Impact Hazards on a Populated Earth, by John S. Lewis. (1999) (Book comes with a computer disk) Fire On Earth, by John and Mary Gribbin. (1996) On the Glassy Sea, by Tom Gehrels. (1988) And for those of you who may have developed an affinity for Nemesis, may I suggest: Nemesis - The Death Star and Other Theories of Mass Extinction, by Donald Goldsmith. (1985) Nemesis - The Death Star, by Dr. Richard Muller. (1988) The Nemesis Affair, by David M. Raup. (1986) Finally, for sci-fi fans, there is Hammer of God, by Arthur C. Clarke. (1994) FINAL THOUGHTS AND COMMENTS I can't seem to forget the day the fragments of Shoemaker-Levy 9 succeeded plowing into Jupiter and I can't seem to get the memory out of my mind how the Hubble Space Telescope team grew excited as the first comet fragments began to hammer the giant planet. Perhaps, I am getting "carried away" by my imagination, but I am still haunted by the possibility that underneath all those Jovian bands of hydrogen, helium, methane and ammonia a civilization might have once thrived and flourished. On the brighter side, perhaps such a beneficial change was needed as it was with the Earth and the dinosaurs. Apparently, such a change was needed to permit humans to thrive and multiply. Secondly, I can't remember who expressed the thought, but I tend to agree...to continue to seek answers to unimportant questions, such as, the exact age of the Universe is a waste of time. The time has arrived to turn our attention homeward. After all, our lives and those of future generations may well depend on what we do today. At present and for all we know, we have the time to build a database of near-earth objects, explore plausible and viable solutions, and begin putting together some preliminary plans of action to ward off incoming objects. In addition, continuing advancements in science and technology would bring greater improvements to the project. The last thing we need to do is to be blasé and ignore this threat! Finally, after doing all we can for ourselves, we have no other choice, but to leave the rest in the hands of God Almighty. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Many thanks to my kids, who were good enough to refresh my tired, old memory! And, as so many times before, I wish to thank Myrna Bishop (Bookseller) for tracking down the books I needed for research purposes. Every writer (though I do not consider myself as such!) should be so fortunate to have such abiding help! Nancy L. Thomas Daytona Beach, FL USA (Part I) 6/3/2000 (Part II) 7/9/2000 Humble Before the Stars |