Near-Earth Object Coordination Centre

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The Near-Earth Object Coordination Centre (NEOCC) is the main centre of the Planetary Defence Office of the European Space Agency (ESA). The NEOCC, which is based at ESRIN in Frascati, Italy, coordinates observations of small bodies such as asteroids and comets in the Solar System in order to evaluate and monitor the threat posed by those potentially hazardous. ^{[1] [2]}

The Coordination Centre also conducts studies with the purpose of improving near-Earth object warning services. These are necessary to give real-time alerts to different organizations, scientific bodies, and decision-makers. ^{[3] [4]}

From 2012, the NEOCC web portal provided data calculated by the University of Pisa spin-off company NEODyS. From 2019 to 2020, NEOCC implemented its own computation capability, using software developed by NEODyS. The orbit calculation and impact risk data provided by NEOCC on its website is slightly different from similar data NEODyS provides on its own website due to software updates. ^[5]

References

1. "Near-Earth Object Coordination Centre". www.esa.int. Retrieved 2020-12-03.
2. Ciaccia, Chris (2019-10-11). "ESA warns asteroid may collide with Earth within decades". New York Post. Retrieved 2020-12-03.
3. "Near-Earth Object Coordination Centre". www.esa.int. Retrieved 2020-12-03.
4. "How the European Space Agency Does Planetary Defense". The Planetary Society. Retrieved 2020-12-03.
5. "Impact Monitoring information now computed by NEOCC". ESA NEOCC. 20 November 2020. Retrieved 2025-02-10.