Torino scale

The Torino scale is a method for categorizing the impact hazard associated with near-Earth objects (NEOs) such as asteroids and comets.

It is intended as a communication 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.

Near-Earth objects with a Torino scale of 1 are discovered several times a year, and may last a few weeks until they have a longer observation arc that eliminates any possibility of a collision.

"[2] 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).

A revised version of the "Hazard Index" was presented at a June 1999 international conference on NEOs held in Torino (Turin), Italy.

Each color code has an overall meaning:[5] No incoming object has ever been rated above level 4, though over Earth's history impacts have spanned the full range of damage described by the scale.

For NASA, a unit of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), the Center for Near-Earth Object Studies (CNEOS) calculates impact risks and assigns ratings in its Sentry Risk Table,[6] while another unit of JPL, Solar System Dynamics (SSD) provides orbital and close approach data.

[12] The Chicxulub impact, believed by most scientists to have been a significant factor in the extinction of the non-avian dinosaurs, has been estimated at 100 million (108) megatons.

[14] Between 2000 and 2013, 26 atmospheric asteroid impacts with an energy of 1–600 kilotons were detected by the network of infrasound sensors operated by the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization.