A leaker from JGR:Planets, June (vol. 130 #6): Rossmann, F. M. Johnson, C. L. Bierhaus, E. B. The Meter-Scale Roughness of Asteroid (101955) Bennu From the OSIRIS-REx Laser Altimeter e2024JE008799 2024JE008799 Lasers on probes- they just keep on giving. Nominally, the… Read More »Note, Paper: Bennu Boulder Total
The journal called “Space Science Reviews” means all three. Just now (vol. 221), they have covered the Lucy mission, and covered it quite well: Levison, H.F. Marchi, S. Noll, K.S. et al. NASA’S Lucy Mission to Trojan Asteroids: Unraveling the… Read More »Space Science Reviews Lucy
Courtesy of Planetary Science News: NEO SURVEYOR MOVING OBJECT SCIENTIST AT IPAC The Infrared Processing and Analysis Center (IPAC) at Caltech invites applications for the position of Moving Object Scientist for the NEO Surveyor Survey Data System (NSDS). IPAC is… Read More »NEOSM Listing
The 2025 edition of the annual Goldschmidt Conference will be held in Prague next week. https://conf.goldschmidt.info/goldschmidt/2025/meetingapp.cgi/Home/0 For starters, Victor Goldschmidt basically founded the modern science of cosmochemistry. He named the element categories- lithophiles, chalcophiles, siderophiles, and atmophiles- we use today… Read More »Goldschmidt 2025
The coverage and hoopla around the Vera C. Rubin Observatory have died down a bit. Mentioned briefly in the First Look Event was the Skyviewer “app” (actually an interactive website, skyviewer.app), which includes a sonification tool (Skysynth). This site/app allows… Read More »Vera Rubin Uploading
The University of Hawaii announced on Friday that the UKIRT telescope on Maunakea is, officially, to be decommissioned: https://www.hawaii.edu/news/2025/06/27/uh-to-decommission-3rd-maunakea-telescope/ UKIRT once stood for “United Kingdom InfraRed Telescope.” Which may have you thinking, “wait- why is the University of Hawaii telling… Read More »Infrared Telescope ‘Insolvent’
Okay, one more Rubin Observatory post: gizmodo.com/rubin-observatorys-stunning-result-proves-its-a-game-changer-for-spotting-dangerous-asteroids-2000621581 I’ve already posted that the Vera Rubin Observatory will be– and now demonstrates it is– the new and undisputed champion of asteroid discovery. Let the conspiracy theory nuts take heed: NASA is not… Read More »Vera Rubin Upstanding
In Astronomical Journal, for July (vol 170 #1): Xu, X. Wang, X. Muinonen, K. et al. Photometric Analysis of Asteroids in the Phocaea Region Art. 35 add3f4Silber, E.A. Trigo-Rodríguez, J. M. Oseghae, I. et al. Multiparameter Constraints on Empirical Infrasound… Read More »Note, Paper: Plenty Planet Pieces
See also: Day 1 The 33rd meeting of the Small Bodies Assessment Group continues. This is a somewhat shorter SBAG meeting than usual. Given the upheaval of January/February, and the budget/regulatory risk, funding could not be confidently assigned for Early… Read More »Summer 2025 SBAG Meeting, Day 2
Yes, it’s time for the 33rd Meeting of the NASA Small Bodies Assessment Group (SBAG). https://www.lpi.usra.edu/sbag/meetings/sbagjune2025/ See the schedule: https://www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/sbagjune2025/technical_program/?session_no=101 Really, the overarching theme was the strangling of planetary science, and not just at small bodies. We are talking about… Read More »Summer 2025 SBAG Meeting, Day 1