Public AstroNight - Pinging space rocks at the Arecibo Observatory

Dr. Flaviane Venditti (Arecibo Observatory/Planetary Radar)

Sep 20, 2018 7:00 PM

Location: Room 204, McConnell Engineering, McGill University, 3480 Rue University
Outreach Event

Free and open to everyone - no knowledge of Astronomy expected. The lecture begins at 7:00pm sharp.

A public talk by Dr. Flaviane Venditti

Abstract: The Arecibo planetary radar system at the 305-m William E. Gordon Telescope in Arecibo, Puerto Rico is the most active, powerful, and sensitive planetary radar facility in the world. Unlike passive radio astronomy, radar is also active, which means we transmit radio waves at the targets, then wait for the return echoes. The focus of the NASA funded program at Arecibo is Near-Earth asteroids (NEAs), and specially Potentially Hazardous Asteroids (PHAs), being critical for identifying objects that may be on a collision course with Earth in addition to providing detailed physical characterization of the objects. It can also measure the distance and speed of an asteroid with great precision. Come learn about important discoveries made at the Arecibo Observatory, how it supports planetary defense, and show how radar observations are done.