From NVIDIA: 2025-02-13 11:00:50

Asteroid researchers utilizing NASA’s JWST and NVIDIA GPUs have identified 10-meter asteroids in the main asteroid belt, crucial for planetary defense against potential impacts on Earth. These findings mark the smallest asteroids ever detected in the belt, enhancing asteroid tracking efforts for future defense strategies. The 2024YR4 asteroid, potentially on a collision course with Earth by 2032, has a 2.3% chance of impact. The JWST’s infrared capabilities enable precise asteroid tracking, with the technology being the only one capable of monitoring the 2024YR4 asteroid as it moves away from Earth and back. Researchers have also applied synthetic tracking methods, supported by NVIDIA GPUs, to detect unknown asteroids in exoplanet surveys, highlighting the importance of GPU technology in planetary defense efforts.



Read more at NVIDIA: Physicists Tap James Webb Space Telescope to Track New Asteroids and City-Killer Rock