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The motivation behind these projects is clear: identify potential impactors early enough to take preventative action. Historically, the limitations in technology meant many large objects remained undetected until they closely approached Earth, but now, with a complete sky survey, astronomers can detect these objects much more reliably.
The Significance of Recent Interstellar Discoveries
In 2017, astronomers identified an object dubbed 'Oumuamua, meaning "scout" in Hawaiian, which demonstrated properties that indicated it originated outside the solar system. It was moving too fast to be gravitationally bound to the Sun, traveling at speeds exceeding 30 km/s, nearly 20 miles per second, which is well above the orbital velocity of Earth.