Radar is a very powerful astronomical technique for studying the physical properties and refining the orbits of near-Earth asteroids. The worlds only two radar telescopes for imaging asteroids are at Arecibo, Puerto Rico, and Goldstone, California. These telescopes can image near-Earth asteroids with resolutions as fine as several meters, which greatly exceeds the finest resolution available from any ground- or space-based optical telescope (even the Hubble Space Telescope). Radar images reveal an objects size, shape, rotation state, and features on its surface such as craters, ridges, and even large boulders, and have discovered that 1/6 of near-Earth asteroids larger than 200 meters in diameter are double systems that revolve around each other, like miniature versions of the Earth and Moon, and that 10% of near-Earth asteroids look like gigantic peanuts, while others resemble muffins and potatoes!
Thursday, May 9, 2013, 7pm
The von Kármán Auditorium at JPL
4800 Oak Grove Drive
Pasadena, CA
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Friday, May 10, 2013, 7pm
The Vosloh Forum at Pasadena City College
1570 East Colorado Blvd.
Pasadena, CA
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