How well do we understand outer space?

There is no doubt that outer space has held human beings fascinated all through history. In the very first science projects man sought to map out the stars in their constellations. This ancient map has been added to by each passing civilization as technology improved. Today we have a much better picture of the night sky than the ancient tribes did and still we continue to learn.

Each year new data is added by scientists who painstakingly study separate sections of the sky. They use powerful telescopes and photograph the view so that they can analyze and study it better. One such science project has been undertaken by NASA’s Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE.

The WISE shows that there are significantly lesser near-Earth asteroids in the mid-size range than previously thought. This was sought out by a survey project, called NEOWISE. In this the scientists explored the entire celestial sky twice in infrared light between January 2010 and February 2011.

As the data from these continuously taken photographs of the celestial sky were studied it was found in this science project that the danger to earth from asteroid collisions was not quite as high as previously thought.  As per the NASA website – “WISE captured a more accurate sample of the asteroid population than previous visible-light surveys because its infrared detectors could see both dark and light objects.”