Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System   

ATLAS Discovery Totals
Near-Earth Asteroids	1187
Potentially Hazardous Asteroids	109
Comets	101
Supernovae	4,608

 

ATLAS 2 on Maunaloa

• (2024-01-29) ATLAS discovery 2024 YR4 currently has a 1% chance of Earth impact in 2032. See the IWAN pagesummarzing what we currently know.
• (2024-09-29)Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS is here!
  
  Image credit: C. Messier 28 September 2024
  
  CometC/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) was first detected (but not confirmed) in early 2023 by Purple Mountain Observatory then re-discovered by ATLAS-Sutherland about a month later. Nowat perihelion, it is naked-eye visible in the early morning and will brighten and become an evening comet in October 2024.


• (2024-09-27) The so-called "mini-moon"2024 PT5 discovered by ATLAS-Sutherland isin the news all over the place!


• (2022-10-07)The ATLAS Solar System Catalog (SSCAT) Version 1 has been released at DPS54. This catalog consists of over 125 million observations of 580,000 asteroids and comets. Check out theREADME.
  
  
• (2022-09-26) ATLAS images the DART impact on moonlet Dimorphos at the Didymos system! This sequence consists of 185 images taken every 40 seconds, about two hours elapsed time.
  
• (2021-01-05) Access our newforced photometry server. We have constructed the ATLAS forced photometry server which provides publicaccess to photometric measurements over the full history of ATLAS survey.Users should note that this is an experimental service, and carefully read thedocumentation on the data products on the web pages. While we provide a webform and API, large volume requests are not encouraged without contacting us directly.
  
  
• Read theTonry et al. (2018) ATLAS system definition paper.
  
  
• WatchATLAS make observations in real time
  
  South Africa |Chile |Maunaloa (Hawaii) |Haleakala (Hawaii)

ATLAS promptly submits observations of new Near Earth Asteroids to theMinor Planet Center, where they appear on the NEO confirmation page. Astronomers all acrossthe world check this webpage every night and collect furthermeasurements needed to calculate the asteroids' orbits and determineif they could threaten Earth.

Meanwhile, theScout Hazard Assessment webpage maintained by NASA-JPL'sCenter for Near Earth Object Studies interprets the observations using sophisticated computer programs, checking for immediate threats and requesting further measurements of asteroids whose orbits remain uncertain. Both websites are publicly accessible to anyone in the world.

ATLAS also processes the survey data to search for stationary transients, which are reported to the IAU Transient Name Server. These include supernovae, CVs, stellar outbursts, and fast transients such as GRB afterglows.  We also have an agreement with LIGO to search for electromagnetic counterparts to gravitational wave sources. Our colleagues inQueen’s University Belfast, Harvard, and the Space Telescope Science Institute help run these programmes. We are in the top 3 reporting groups worldwide, with more than 300 supernovae candidates found during 2016.  A full list of ATLAS transient discoveries can be accessedhere.