Arecibo Radar Observations of Near-Earth Asteroids

Radar observations are one of the only groundbased techniques to spatially resolve near-Earth asteroids. Images with up to 7.5-m resolution reveal a wide variety of shapes, surface features and helped to discover many binary objects. Our understanding of the nature and evolution of NEAs has changed radically in recent years, in a large part due to the information from radar images, and shape models derived from them. I will discuss current results and upcoming improved capabilities of the Arecibo planetary radar system.

Speaker: Ellen Howell, NAIC Arecibo/Cornell University