Information AboutTorino Scale |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT TORINO SCALE | |
| alert measurement systems | |
| scales | |
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It is intended as a tool for Astronomers and the public to assess the seriousness of collision predictions, by combining probability statistics and known kinetic damage potentials into a single threat value. The Palermo Technical Impact Hazard Scale is a similar, but more complex scale. OVERVIEW The Torino Scale uses a scale from 0 to 10. A 0 indicates an object has a negligibly small chance of collision with the Earth , compared with the usual "background noise" of collision events, or is too small to penetrate the Earth's Atmosphere intact. A 10 indicates that a collision is certain, and the impacting object is large enough to precipitate a global disaster. Only Integer values are ever used. An object is assigned a 0 to 10 value based on its collision probability and its weapon dropped on Hiroshima had a yield of approximately 13 kilotons of TNT. Thus, a megaton of TNT is equivalent to roughly 77 Hiroshima bombs. HISTORY The Torino Scale was created by Professor Richard P. Binzel in the Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, at the Massachusetts Institute Of Technology (MIT). The first version, called "A Near-Earth Object Hazard Index", was presented at a United Nations conference in 1995 and was published by Binzel in the subsequent conference proceedings (''Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences,'' volume 822, 1997.) A revised version of the "Hazard Index" was presented at a June 1999 international conference on NEOs held in Torino ( Turin ), Italy. The conference participants voted to adopt the revised version, where the bestowed name "Torino Scale" recognizes the spirit of international cooperation displayed at that conference toward research efforts to understand the hazards posed by NEOs. ("Torino Scale" is the proper usage, not "Turin Scale.") In 2005 a re-worded scale was published to better communicate the risks to the public. CURRENT TORINO SCALE The Torino Scale also uses a color code scale: white, green, yellow, orange, red. Each color code has an overall meaning: Wording taken from {Link without Title} . OBJECTS WITH HIGH TORINO RATINGS The current record for highest Torino rating is held by 2004 MN4) was the first object to reach a level 2 on the Torino Scale, and it was subsequently upgraded to level 4. It is now expected to pass the Earth on April 13 , 2029 quite closely but with no possibility of an impact. Future uncertainties in the orbit of Apophis will occur because of gravitational deflection during the 2029 encounter, therefore as of February 2006, a Torino rating of 1 applies for an encounter in 2036 . Prior to Apophis, no NEO had ever been given a Torino value higher than 1. In February 2006, the rating for was upgraded to a current value of 2 due to a possible encounter in the year 2102 , making it the second asteroid to ever be given a Torino scale value higher than 1. As of February 2006, the highest rated objects are:
Due to exaggerated press coverage of asteroids such as , astronomers started to work on a re-wording of the Torino scale, which was published in 2005 . It was also considered to phase it out completely in favour of a scale which is less likely to generate false alarms that may reduce public confidence in genuine alerts. One alternative would be the Palermo Technical Impact Hazard Scale . EXTERNAL LINKS
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