Chinese Scientists Monitor Earth-threatening Asteroids for Planetary Defense

Chinese Scientists Monitor Earth-threatening Asteroids for Planetary Defense

A global network of observers and telescopes work together to track near-Earth objects (NEOs) and protect our planet. China plays a key role in this effort. Join CGTN's Sun Ye in Jiangsu Province, where a critical telescope has discovered the largest number of near-Earth asteroids in the country and provides over 95 percent of China's observational data in the field.

Operated by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, China's Purple Mountain Observatory is located near the city of Nanjing, Jiangsu—a coastal province in East China. The Purple Mountain Observatory (PMO), established in 1934, is the first Chinese-owned modern astronomical research institution in China. The observatory’s PMO NEO Survey Program is credited with hundreds of discoveries. Near-Earth objects are comets and asteroids with orbits around the Sun that are at least partially closer than 1.3 astronomical units (AU; Sun–Earth distance) away from the Sun.

Video Credit: CGTN
Duration: 2 minutes
Release Date: April 26, 2025

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