20240906 SBAU 1st Fri Masiero NeoWISE asteroids video1021274980 Trim

September 6, 2024 Santa Barbara Astronomical Unit First Friday general meeting presentation by Joe Masiero, Ph.D., CalTech, California Institute of Technology, IPAC, NeoWISE projects.

"Hunting for Hazardous Asteroids Using Infrared Light"
At the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History
September 6, 2024 / 7:30 PM–9:00 PM

Near-Earth asteroids offer insights into the solar system's formation and evolution, but they also pose a potential threat to Earth if on a collision course. In this free talk presented by the Santa Barbara Astronomical Unit, Joseph Masiero, Ph.D., will discuss the survey to discover and characterize hazardous asteroids using the NEOWISE (Near-Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer) infrared space telescope. He will also present the plans for the next generation mission: NEO Surveyor. The talk will start at 7:30, but astronomy lovers are encouraged to arrive at 7:00 to mingle and network.

Dr. Masiero is a research scientist at the IPAC research organization at the California Institute of Technology and the deputy principal investigator of the NEOWISE mission. His research focuses on the physical and dynamic properties of asteroids using a range of techniques including photometry, polarimetry, and numerical simulations. Masiero received his B.S. in astronomy and astrophysics from Penn State and his Ph.D. in astronomy from the Institute for Astronomy at the University of Hawaii.