Seminar

Pinging space rocks – a radar story of asteroids and comets

March 21, 2019

Marina Brozovic

Short of sending a spacecraft, radar observations have proven to be the most effective technique to study asteroids and comets. The two most powerful radars in the world are the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico and the Goldstone Solar System Radar in the Mojave Desert in California. To date, these radars have observed close to 140 main belt asteroids, more than 800 near-Earth asteroids, and 21 comets. Radars play an important role in the physical characterization of these small bodies because delay-Doppler images directly display an object’s size, shape, and surface characteristics. Furthermore, radar measurements of line-of-sight velocities and positions provide powerful orbital constraints and frequently add decades and even centuries to how far in the future we can reliably calculate orbits. This is of particular importance when assessing the impact probabilities of potentially hazardous asteroids. This talk will discuss some of the most important radar contributions to the field of planetary science, and we will also take a look at some of the best radar images of asteroids and comets to date.

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