Vera C. Rubin Observatory Could Detect 80% of Dangerous Asteroids

The news in Croatian

1. zvjezdarnica  (f.)
   Zgrada ili ustanova opremljena teleskopima za promatranje zvijezda i nebeskih tijela. ↩︎
2. opasan
   Koji može uzrokovati štetu ili nesreću; koji predstavlja prijetnju. ↩︎
3. asteroid  (m.)
   Malo kameno ili metalno nebesko tijelo koje kruži oko Sunca. ↩︎
4. uzrokovati
   Biti razlog nastanka nečega; prouzročiti nešto. ↩︎
5. sudjelovati
   Biti dio neke aktivnosti ili projekta zajedno s drugima; učestvovati. ↩︎
6. institucija  (f.)
   Organizacija ili ustanova koja obavlja određenu društvenu ili znanstvenu djelatnost. ↩︎

Translation

Text comprehension

Question 1: In which country is the Vera C. Rubin Observatory located?

Question 2: How many Croatian institutions are involved in the project?

Vocabulary

Croatian	English
zvjezdarnica  (f.)	observatory
opasan	dangerous
asteroid  (m.)	asteroid
uzrokovati	to cause
sudjelovati	to participate
institucija  (f.)	institution

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The Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile could detect around 80 per cent of potentially hazardous asteroids larger than 140 metres across, according to Croatian-American physicist Željko Ivezić. Such asteroids, if they struck Earth, could trigger devastating tsunamis.

Ivezić made the remarks following a lecture he gave at the Zagreb Observatory in late October. He explained that the estimates are based on simulations of asteroid populations, their orbits, brightness, and visibility during the observatory’s observations, combined with modelling of how individual detections can be linked into orbital paths. He stressed these are projections for the entire project, not a guarantee that every dangerous asteroid will be found.

Potentially hazardous asteroids have orbits that bring them close to Earth’s orbit, but that does not mean a collision is inevitable. A collision would require both bodies to be in the same place at the same time. Ivezić noted that no asteroid is currently known to be on a collision course with Earth, but that precisely determining an asteroid’s orbit is essential for assessing any impact risk. Once an orbit is known, an asteroid’s movement can be predicted several hundred years into the future.

The Vera C. Rubin project began in June 2026 after two decades of development and construction. Over ten years, its telescope will photograph large areas of the southern sky on every clear night. By comparing repeated images, it will track changes and identify new objects. Its database is expected to cover nearly 40 billion stars and galaxies.

Among the observatory’s early findings, Ivezić highlighted a trans-Neptunian object designated 2026 ED138, discovered on 13 October by Matthew Holman of the Harvard-Smithsonian Centre for Astrophysics. Located roughly 46 astronomical units from the Sun, it is a dwarf planet candidate and may be one of the largest and brightest objects yet found in that region of the Solar System. The Simonyi Survey Telescope recorded the object 30 times over 20 nights between 4 March and 11 July. Confirmation of its status would see it join the five dwarf planets currently recognised by the International Astronomical Union: Pluto, Ceres, Eris, Haumea, and Makemake. Another early discovery, asteroid 2025 MN45, measures about 710 metres across and completes a full rotation in just 1.88 minutes.

Three Croatian institutions take part in the project through the Croatian Participation Group: the Ruđer Bošković Institute and the universities of Rijeka and Zagreb. The group is coordinated by Lovro Palaversa of the Ruđer Bošković Institute, with Croatian researchers contributing to software development and scientific data analysis.