[ASA] Requesting collaboration for stellar occultation observational campaigns - May and August

[John O'Byrne]

The following may be on interest to some ASA members or perhaps to your links in the amateur community:


I am reaching out to you to request the support of Australian colleagues (Professional and Amateur astronomers, as well as institutions) to organise observational campaigns mainly in May, July and August 2024 to observe stellar occultations by the Near-Earth Asteroid, Didymos. This was a target by DART (NASA) planetary defence mission in September 2022.

The Hera (ESA) mission will be launched in October to study the aftermath of the DART (NASA) mission’s kinetic impact. These occultations are rare, and those of May - August 2024 will be the last good ones before the Hera (ESA) mission reaches its target. The results will not only have a significant scientific impact scientifically, but also prove meaningful to the planetary defence community and the space agencies.

This is also a great opportunity for education and outreach, and to include university and high-school students in astronomical observations. I am attaching here a document which I prepared explaining the campaigns, and their importance.

I am in contact with a handful of observers across Australia (Trans-Tasman Occultation Alliance), but as you can see from the attached document, these types of observations require a much bigger coverage.

Looking forward to exchanging with you.

Cheers,
Damya

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Dr. Damya Souami --- Ph.D in Celestial Mechanics
Fulbright alumna (2022 - 2023)
CNRS Researcher (Chargée de Recherche) at LESIA/ Observatoire de Paris

Member of the ACROSS (collaborative occultation observations for NEAs) ESA funded project - https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/K8_nCmO5glupw2pVLUGQvYJ?domain=lagrange.oca.eu<https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/K8_nCmO5glupw2pVLUGQvYJ?domain=lagrange.oca.eu>

Member of the ERC Lucky Star project https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/ZtCxCnx1jniX05X4pfJJOK3?domain=lesia.obspm.fr<https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/ZtCxCnx1jniX05X4pfJJOK3?domain=lesia.obspm.fr>

Affiliated with: NAXYS - Namur Center for Complex Systems-, UNamur, Belgium.
ca.linkedin.com/in/damyasouami/<http://ca.linkedin.com/in/damyasouami/>



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