In 1937, astronomers discovered Asteroid 69230 Hermes passed Earth at about twice the distance of the Moon. Astronomers began to realise the possibilities of Earth impact.

In 1989, Asteroid 4581 Asclepius passed through the exact position of Earth only six hours earlier. Geophysicists estimate that collision with Asclepius would release energy comparable to the explosion of a 600 megaton atomic bomb.

Image Credit: State Farm / CC BY 2.0

There is increasing interest in identifying Near-Earth Object (NEO), including Near-Earth Asteroid (NEA) and Near-Earth Comets, which have the potential of impacting Earth.

Some of the NEO and NEA discovered has an orbit intersecting the Earth’s orbit, thus posing a collision danger.

Image Credit: E. Weiß

Majority of asteroids and comets discovery today is discovered by automated system such as Catalina Sky Survey (CSS) with largest telescope of 1.5 meter, and formerly by Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research (LINEAR) with largest telescope of 1 meter and Near-Earth Asteroid Tracking (NEAT) with largest telescope of 1.2 meter.

Image Credit: NASA/JPL

However, Exoplanet Observatory with our large 25 inches telescope and sensitive CCD camera, we are able to provide observers with invaluable hands-on experience in discovering an asteroid or comet.

Observers can also learned how to track an existing known asteroid or comet which might has a potential danger of impacting Earth.

Image Credit: ESA/Hubble