So what is this new million dollar project really for?
Astronomers have previously not been able to spot asteroids in the ‘blind zone’ due to radiation from the sun blocking information.
But now The European Space Agency intends to launch the Gaia Space Telescope with its key task being to monitor the area between the Earth and the sun and warn of any impending collisions.
One recent asteroid which could have been spotted as it travelled through the ‘blind zone’ months before it collided with the Earth, was that of the Russian asteroid of February this year which caused a spectacular fireball before smashing into Chelyabinsk, 900 miles east of Russia.
During its five-year-mission the £800million Gaia will also map the stars with unprecedented precision – giving astronomers the first accurate 3D map of our galaxy and measure distance between the stars.
A spokseman for the ESA said: “During its anticipated lifetime of five years, Gaia will observe each of its 1billion sources about 70 times, resulting in a record of the brightness and position of each source over time.
source: daily express
