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Theleachan t1_jd20tbc wrote

Advanced telescopes and radars detect and track celestial bodies and determine their trajectory. We pretty much perfectly mapped the gravitational effects of all the large bodies in our solar system so a computer calculates future trajectory with the data observatories gather. Calculations are relatively simple even a phone app can do it with right data inputs.

But problem is the ones we cant see. Radar is useful in close range. And optical telescopes require astroids to pass in front of a light source ie sun

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mfb- t1_jd21nrk wrote

> And optical telescopes require astroids to pass in front of a light source ie sun

No they do not. Asteroids close to the Sun (as seen from Earth) are the worst possible observation condition. They are much easier to see if they are farther away from the Sun and we can measure their reflected sunlight at night (at the telescope site).

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