Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research facts for kids
The Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research (LINEAR) project is a special program that helps find and keep track of near-Earth asteroids. These are space rocks that come close to Earth.
LINEAR is a team effort. It's run by the United States Air Force, NASA (which is America's space agency), and MIT's Lincoln Laboratory.
What is LINEAR?
LINEAR stands for Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research. Its main job is to find asteroids that might get too close to Earth. It also tracks their paths to make sure we know where they are going.
This project has been very successful. Since it started, LINEAR has discovered a huge number of space objects. In fact, it has found most of the asteroids discovered since 1998.
How LINEAR Finds Space Rocks
LINEAR uses special tools to find asteroids and comets. They use powerful robotic telescopes. These telescopes can work on their own, scanning the sky for new objects.
When a robotic telescope spots something new, it sends the information to scientists. The scientists then study the object to learn more about it.
LINEAR's Discoveries
The LINEAR project has found many different space objects. As of June 13, 2006, LINEAR was credited with finding 67,208 asteroids.
In total, LINEAR has found 226,193 new objects since it began. Among these discoveries were:
- 2,019 near-Earth asteroids
- 236 comets
LINEAR has also discovered several comets that are named after the project. Some of these include:
- 11P/Tempel-Swift-LINEAR
- 146P/Shoemaker-LINEAR
- 148P/Anderson-LINEAR
- 156P/Russell-LINEAR
- 158P/Kowal-LINEAR
- 160P/LINEAR (also known as LINEAR 43)
- 165P/LINEAR (also known as LINEAR 10)
- 176P/LINEAR
These discoveries help scientists understand our solar system better. They also help us keep an eye on any space rocks that could be a danger to Earth.
