AST Colloquium: Asteroid Families - a Powerful Tool to Understand our Solar System
Astrophysical Sciences and Technology Colloquium
Asteroid Families: a Powerful Tool to Understand our Solar System
Dr. Federica Spoto
Astrophysicist at the Minor Planet Center
Center for Astrophysics
Harvard and Smithsonian
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Abstract:
Asteroid families are the result of past collisions between asteroids and they have always been identified as groups of asteroids sharing similar dynamical properties. Dr. Spoto is going to present how we identify asteroid families in the main belt, how we compute the time of the initial collision and how we use this time to create a chronology of the Solar System. She will also focus part of her talk on showing why the amazing Gaia accuracy plays such a fundamental role for Solar System object observations.
Speaker Bio:
Dr. Spoto is an astrophysicist working at the Minor Planet Center, which is part of the Center for Astrophysics (Harvard and Smithsonian). She is also the responsible of the validation of Solar System Objects for the Gaia mission. Before coming to the US, she got her PhD in mathematics at the University of Pisa (Italy)and then she spent four years in France (Nice and Paris) with different fellowships (CNES, CNRS).
Intended Audience:
All are welcome. Those with interest in the topic.
To request an interpreter, please visit myaccess.rit.edu
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