NEO PG– Asteroid Systems: Understanding the Dynamics of Asteroids with Sats

Webinar Overview

Duration: 60 minutes (45-minute presentation + 15-minute live Q&A)Format: Virtual (Zoom)

Moderator: Victoria and Quincy 

Target Audience: Astronomy enthusiasts, students, educators, early-career researchers, and anyone interested in planetary science, asteroid mining, or planetary defense.

Key Objectives: 

• The fundamental characteristics and types of binary and triple asteroid systems.
• The leading theories on how these complex systems come to exist.
• How the DART mission's impact with Dimorphos is revolutionizing planetary defense.
• The cutting-edge technologies and future missions, like ESA's Hera, that will continue to unveil their secrets.

Overview

Asteroids systems in which one or more asteroids orbit another represent a fascinating and crucial aspect of Near-Earth Object (NEO) research. The Didymos–Dimorphos system, famously targeted by NASA’s DART mission, exemplifies how these bodies can help scientists study impact dynamics, orbital evolution, and the physical properties of small bodies in our Solar System. 

This talk will explore what makes binary asteroids unique, how they form, and why studying them improves our understanding of NEO population diversity, planetary defense strategies, and asteroid resource potential. We’ll also look at the current observational techniques and missions dedicated to these systems, and discuss how future experiments could deepen our insight into their internal and orbital characteristics.

Speaker 

Prudence AYIVI

Prudence AYIVI is a space enthusiast from Benin, with a background in physics. His passion for space education and outreach has led him to create Sirius Space Association, an organization for space outreach in Benin, to spark interest about space among youth in Benin, and to make Benin a space nation. 

Prudence serves as the National Point of Contact of SGAC in Benin. 

His interest and research focused on asteroid detection and their robotic exploration. Since 2021 he has worked as a citizen scientist for the NASA IASC asteroid search campaign and has trained teams from various African French-speaking countries to join this program.

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