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ESA's newest Flyeye telescope will provide enhanced asteroid warning system

Ultimately, the European Space Agency hopes to have a network of four Flyeyes working together to form a planet-wide, early warning system.

Observations of our neighboring galaxy, Andromeda, made using the ESA's Flyeye telescope. Flyeye is a survey telescope designed to see as much of the sky at once as possible, and to rapidly scan for new near-Earth objects. This image of Andromeda takes up just 1/16th of the telescope's full field of view. The image was acquired during the telescope's 'first light' campaign by combining 16 30-second exposures. [ESA]
Observations of our neighboring galaxy, Andromeda, made using the ESA's Flyeye telescope. Flyeye is a survey telescope designed to see as much of the sky at once as possible, and to rapidly scan for new near-Earth objects. This image of Andromeda takes up just 1/16th of the telescope's full field of view. The image was acquired during the telescope's 'first light' campaign by combining 16 30-second exposures. [ESA]

By Stephanie Dwilson |

The European Space Agency (ESA) launched a groundbreaking telescope in early May that uses a field of view inspired by an insect's compound eye to scan the sky for dangerous near-Earth objects.

The Flyeye telescope captures a region of space in a single exposure that is 200 times larger than the Moon.

Every night, the telescope will autonomously survey the sky and look for asteroids or comets that might pose a threat to Earth. Ultimately, the ESA hopes to have a network of four Flyeyes working together to form a planet-wide, early warning system.

The ESA's Near-Earth Object Coordination Center will verify whatever the Flyeye telescope detects and submit it to the Minor Planet Center so astronomers can further study the objects.

Delegates visit the ESA's new Flyeye asteroid-hunting telescope at the factory in Matera, Italy, where it is undergoing its final test campaign. [ESA/Pietro Moliterni]
Delegates visit the ESA's new Flyeye asteroid-hunting telescope at the factory in Matera, Italy, where it is undergoing its final test campaign. [ESA/Pietro Moliterni]

Inspired by an insect's compound eye

The natural design of an insect's compound eye inspired the telescope's wide field of view.

"The telescope is equipped with a one meter primary mirror, which efficiently captures incoming light. This light is then divided into 16 separate channels, each equipped with a camera capable of detecting very faint objects," Roberto Aceti, managing director at OHB Italia, said in a statement.

"This enables simultaneous high-sensitivity observations over a large region of the sky."

Other survey telescopes, early warning systems

The Flyeye is not the only telescope designed to look for planetary dangers. Other nations and organizations have survey telescopes that are hard at work.

NASA's ATLAS (Asteroid Terrestrial-Impact Last Alert System) consists of four telescopes developed by the University of Hawaii and funded by NASA.

In 2022, it made history by being the first survey that could search the entire dark sky for near-Earth objects every 24 hours.

Last December, ATLAS discovered the 2024 YR4 asteroid, which grabbed national headlines because of the concern that it might hit the Earth in 2032. The perceived threat of impact has diminished since then, but it could still hit the Moon in the same time frame.

Astronomers develooped the first two ATLAS telescopes under a 2013 NASA grant. After they operated successfully for several years, NASA funded two more telescopes, one each in South Africa and Chile.

Each telescope can image a section of the sky 100 times larger than the Moon in one exposure.

Other programs designed to survey for near-Earth objects include the following:

  • Purple Mountain Observatory in China: Runs China's NEO Survey Telescope near Xuyi. China launched a deep-space mission in June to rendezvous and take samples from a near-Earth asteroid.
  • Campo Imperatore Near-Earth Object Survey (CINEOS): Started in 2001, situated at the Rome Observatory.
  • Bisei Spaceguard Center in Japan: Tracks near-Earth asteroids, nonfunctional satellites and rockets, and orbital debris.
  • Canadian Space Agency's Near-Earth-Object Surveillance Satellite (NEOSSat): Launched in 2013, this satellite orbits the Earth every 100 minutes, scanning for asteroids and comets.
  • Vera C. Rubin Observatory: Situated in Chile, this observatory will host a 10-year program to scan the entire sky and create a detailed time-lapse record. Jointly funded by the US National Science Foundation and the US Department of Energy, its first images are scheduled for release June 23.
  • Zwicky Transient Facility: Studies the entire northern sky every two days using a custom-built mosaic charge-coupled device camera. Funded by the US National Science Foundation and an international consortium of universities and institutions. Located at the Palomar Observatory in California.
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