The National Research Foundation’s South African Astronomical Observatory in Sutherland in the Northern Cape now hosts one of four telescopes that form part of the Nasa-funded Atlas asteroid alert system which will scan the entire night sky around the clock for objects that could collide with the Earth. Mybroadband.co.za reports that as of November 2021, Atlas had discovered around 700 near-earth asteroids, 70 potentially hazardous asteroids, 65 comets, and nearly 10,000 supernovae. The telescope, which has a field of view 15 times the diameter of the full Moon, can provide a one-day warning for a 30-kilotonne “town killer”, a week’s notice for a 5-megatonne “city killer”, or three weeks’ forewarning for a 100-megatonne “county or province killer”.
