Heliostat arrays eyed for asteroid detection throughout nighttime hours
by Clarence Oxford
Los Angeles CA (SPX) Jul 30, 2025
A researcher at Sandia Nationwide Laboratories has proposed an revolutionary new use for heliostats, the massive mirrors usually used to pay attention daylight for solar energy technology. John Sandusky believes these mirrors may play a key function in detecting asteroids after darkish.
“Heliostat fields haven’t got an evening job. They only sit there unused,” mentioned Sandusky. “The nation has a possibility to offer them an evening job at a comparatively low value for locating near-Earth objects.” The method may enhance early detection and response to potential asteroid impacts.
Conventional asteroid searches depend on observatory-grade telescopes to seize pictures of the evening sky. Computer systems then analyze these pictures for faint streaks that point out asteroids. Nevertheless, this technique is resource-intensive and gradual, and setting up new observatories requires vital funding.
As a part of a Laboratory Directed Analysis and Growth mission, Sandusky carried out nighttime checks on the Nationwide Photo voltaic Thermal Check Facility utilizing a single heliostat from a 212-unit subject. Moderately than modifying the mirror with specialised tools, he used present software program to slowly oscillate its path relative to the celebs – sweeping backwards and forwards as soon as per minute.
“Photo voltaic towers accumulate one million watts of daylight,” mentioned Sandusky. “At evening, we need to accumulate a femtowatt, which is a millionth of a billionth of a watt of energy of daylight that is scattered off of asteroids.”
By monitoring the pace at which objects transfer in relation to the celebs, Sandusky goals to detect asteroids not by pictures, however by movement – an unconventional however probably environment friendly method.
Through the trial, Sandusky climbed the 200-foot photo voltaic tower at nightfall and used normal optical instruments to measure the sunshine the heliostat centered on the tower. Information was gathered at roughly 20-minute intervals all through the evening.
The experiment didn’t try to find asteroids however efficiently demonstrated the power to comb the heliostat and detect starlight, establishing proof of idea.
Based on Sandusky, the potential advantages transcend asteroid detection. The know-how may assist U.S. Area Pressure efforts to watch spacecraft, notably in difficult orbits close to the moon.
He shared outcomes with the Worldwide Society for Optics and Photonics and is searching for enter from consultants. “We need to hear from our friends in optics and the asteroid looking neighborhood,” he mentioned. “Getting peer suggestions gives a possibility to grasp what the considerations are about how this know-how will work.”
Future work may embody monitoring a recognized planet to check accuracy and step by step scaling up from one heliostat to many in hopes of detecting smaller and fainter near-Earth objects.
“We’re in search of alternatives to scale up from one heliostat to many and attempt to exhibit that we might help discover near-Earth objects,” Sandusky mentioned. “We additionally need to exhibit we will scale up the know-how to detect even smaller asteroids.”
Associated Hyperlinks
Laboratory Directed Research and Development
Asteroid and Comet Mission News, Science and Technology
