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A new website will be introduced by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory of NASA to provide information on near-Earth objects such as asteroids and comets that can approach earth.
The visitors to this "Asteroid Watch" site can also sign up for the new asteroid widget and Twitter account through the links in the site.
"Most people have a fascination with near-Earth objects," said Don Yeomans, manager of NASA's Near-Earth Object Program Office at JPL.
"And I have to agree with them. I have studied them for over three decades and I find them to be scientifically fascinating, and a few are potentially hazardous to Earth. The goal of our Web site is to provide the public with the most up-to-date and accurate information on these intriguing objects," he added.
The website will include information on NASA's missions to study comets, asteroids and near-Earth objects. The basic facts and the very latest in science and research on these objects can be also searched for in this website.
A downloadable widget and RSS feed will allow the users to access news about near-Earth object discoveries and Earth flybys.
A Twitter feed is offered on the website for those who want to learn about their space rocks.
The "Asteroid Watch" site also contains a link to JPL's more technical Near-Earth Objects Web site, which is used by many scientists and researchers to get information on near-Earth objects.
"This innovative new Web application gives the public an unprecedented look at what's going on in near-Earth space," said Lindley Johnson, program executive for the Near-Earth Objects Observation program at NASA Headquarters in Washington.
The survey for detection and tracking of asteroids and comets passing close to Earth is supported by NASA.
"Spaceguard," the Near-Earth Object Observation Program, also plots the orbits of these objects to find out any potential danger to our planet.
