Home / News / SPRING TALK: Hitting asteroids for fun: the NASA-DART mission 16 Mar 7pm

SPRING TALK: Hitting asteroids for fun: the NASA-DART mission 16 Mar 7pm

Published 14:26 on 10 Mar 2023

Come and enjoy a fascinating talk about the NASA DART planetary defence mission, which successfully changed the trajectory of a small asteroid in September 2022, and the observations of the results using telescopes on Earth. As the spacecraft was destroyed during the controlled collision, Earth-based observations were critical for measuring the effectiveness of the experiment. The very moment of impact itself was only visible from areas around the Indian Ocean, where there are relatively few observatories. The University of Edinburgh led a programme to set up a new observatory in Kenya to capture images of the DART impact. This talk will discuss the results of the DART mission, and the challenges and future opportunities presented by establishing a new observatory in this remote location in Africa.

The bar will be open from 7.00pm and bar snacks available to purchase.

For more information about the NASA DART project, follow the links:

Edinburgh team part of NASA DART mission

DART (jhuapl.edu)

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