Using Open Science To Determine Physical Properties of Near Earth Asteroids

Title: 
Using Open Science To Determine Physical Properties of Near Earth Asteroids

Presenter:
Arushi Nath (Founder MonitorMyPlanet.com, Canada)

This was a poster presented at the 5th Shaw-IAU Workshop on Astronomy for Education, organised by the IAU Office of Astronomy for Education (OAE, http//astro4edu.org).

The pace of discovery of near-earth asteroids outpaces current abilities to analyze them. Knowledge of an asteroid's physical properties is essential to deflect them. I have developed open-source algorithms for classrooms that combine images from robotic telescopes, open-data, and math to determine asteroids' size, rotation, and strength. 
I took observations of the Didymos binary asteroid, and my algorithm determined it to be 820m wide, with a 2.26-hour rotation period and rubble-pile strength. I measured a 35-minute decrease in the mutual orbital period after impact by the 2022 NASA DART Mission. External sources validated the findings. Every citizen scientist is now a planetary defender.  The project won the 2023 Youth Astronomy Award of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada.

About the 5th Shaw-IAU Workshop on Astronomy for Education:
This year’s Shaw-IAU Workshop on Astronomy for Education focuses on two themes: one special practical astronomy education topic and one scientific topic. The special topic is astronomy education outside the classroom, looking at how astronomy can be taught in a diverse range of environments such as science centers, planetaria and youth clubs. The scientific topic is planetary atmospheres, both in the solar system and exoplanets as well as our own Earth. The workshop was organised by the IAU Office of Astronomy for Education (http://astro4edu.org). More details can be found on: https://astro4edu.org/shaw-iau/5th-shaw-iau-workshop/schedule/

Keep up to date with future Shaw-IAU Workshops and other opportunities at the IAU Office of Astronomy for Education by joining our mailing list https://astro4edu.org/mailing-list/

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