Use the sun to find asteroids?

The sun puts off all kinds of energy. Could we not somehow use some of that energy like a Radar to find all the asteroids and other planetary bodies in the solar system? All we would need is recievers tuned to recieve the deflected sun energy to see even small items floating around out there? Might have to put a satelite near the sun looking outward but should'nt there be lots of energy being reflected back off objects like Radar waves?

Originally posted by Xeven
The sun puts off all kinds of energy. Could we not somehow use some of that energy like a Radar to find all the asteroids and other planetary bodies in the solar system? All we would need is recievers tuned to recieve the deflected sun energy to see even small items floating around out there? Might have to put a satelite near the sun looking outward but should'nt there be lots of energy being reflected back off objects like Radar waves?

edit on 15-3-2012 by Xeven because: (no reason given)

That is what we currently use.

The light from the Sun in all spectra and (less so) the infrared heating from the Sun.

In terms of radio, most asteroids are too small and distant to be imaged (due to the relatively long wavelengths of radio waves, size of the reflective object is important).

We also don't have any control over the source, type and direction of solar emissions and so such detection would be patchy at best.

But as an idea and a brain stretcher, your post is intriguing.

I like your thinking. When I first read your title I thought of the invasion thread yesterday where many objects could be seen around the backdrop of the suns emissions.

Perhaps an alternate tracking method for "cloaked objects" which cannot be picked up using radar? Star for out of the box thinking.

reply to post by chr0naut


I was thinking there may be some higher energy emissions than light that we could use. Could probably use some software to resolve the fluxuations from the sun to filter out returns from objects. Oh well I think it is all the CME's discussed lately that made me think of this.

Originally posted by Xeven
reply to post by chr0naut

 

I was thinking there may be some higher energy emissions than light that we could use. Could probably use some software to resolve the fluxuations from the sun to filter out returns from objects. Oh well I think it is all the CME's discussed lately that made me think of this.

But higher energy emissions are more penetrative (read less likely to reflect, more likely to be absorbed). Perhaps if these emissions caused something like fluorescence or ionic discharge, then we could use them.

Light reflects quite well making it almost perfect for detection of NEO's.

It may not, and probably is not detection, but filtering out the noise to determine or separated what is being detected. You see when a small NEO is detected the day of close flyby, they have the coordinates to filter out the noise, or see what they are looking for through the noise. I don't think its the detection part of the process that is not finding random space dust millions of miles away, I think more advances need to be and are being made on the receiving and interpretation side right here on earth.

Think of how small the Voyagers and Pioneers are and how far away they are. When one has the pinpoint coordinates we read them loud and clear, primarily through the advances we made since their launches.