Collision Threats
The primary aim of the Pan-STARRS project is to find Potentially
Hazardous Objects. Pan-STARRS should find almost all of the 1-km
diameter objects that pass close to the Earth and many of the 300
km ones.
Potentially Hazardous Objects are most likely to approach us from
along the direction of the Earth's motion around the Sun. The animation
below shows a view of 300m scale PHOs from the Earth over a period of several years.
Objects that are detectable are yellow - objects beyond the reach of the
survey are blue. Pan-STARRS should find almost all the 1-km sized
hazardous objects, and many of the 300-m diameter ones.
Asteroids
Beyond the NEOs, Pan-STARRS will contribute to studies of objects
as near as our own solar system to the farthest reaches of the
universe. Within the solar system, the majority of the moving objects
that Pan-STARRS will discover will belong to the population of
main-belt asteroids. Estimates for the number of such objects we
will find and develop orbits for range up to the tens of millions,
the smallest of which will be about 300 meters in diameter. While
these asteroids themselves do not pose any threat to Earth, it
is generally believed the NEOs that cross into the inner solar
system originate in the main belt. Observations from Pan-STARRS
will allow astronomers to characterize this population in terms
of their size and orbital distributions. This will provide useful
insights into the frequency of collisions and fragmentation of
the main-belt asteroids, and the processes that "kick" objects
from the main belt into orbits that eventually cross into the inner
solar system.
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Kuiper Belt Objects
Kuiper Belt Objects (KBOs) are now known to comprise a large
population in the outer solar system. Some of these objects are as
large as 1000 km in diameter. These objects are
found in a region that starts near the orbit of Neptune and extends
into the outer solar system well beyond the orbit of Pluto. Pan-STARRS
will allow planetary astronomers to discover many new KBOs and
characterize their orbits. This will provide a firm understanding
of the structure, dynamics, and evolution of the outer solar system.
Pan-STARRS is also likely to be a productive tool for discovering
comets, both active and inactive.
Other Solar System Science
Pan-STARRS will produce the deepest and most complete survey of
the Solar System so far. We expect of order 100,000 Jupiter Trojans,
1000 Centaurs, and several hundred comets.
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