Thesis Proposal Presentation by Chris Miko on December 17th

Space Studies M.S. candidate, Capt. Chris Miko, will give his thesis proposal presentation as follows.  All Space Studies students and faculty are encouraged to attend.

When:  Tuesday, December 17th at 1:00 pm (Central)

Where:  Clifford Hall, room 521 (Space Studies Conference Room)

Title:  “PHOTOMETRIC STUDY OF NEAR-EARTH ASTEROIDS IN THE SLOAN DIGITAL SKY SURVEY MOVING OBJECTS CATALOG”

About the research:  Classifying asteroids by color and spectral features is important for understanding their compositions, linkages to meteorite types, and formation and evolution of the Solar System in general.  Large surveys such as the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) have allowed for more comprehensive studies of asteroid population, but the repeatability and thus reliability of such datasets comes into question, especially as Szabo et al (2004) and Carvano et al (2010) reported large fractions of asteroids observed by SDSS having varying taxonomies through different observations. My research will study two near-Earth asteroids (NEAs), each observed by SDSS: 2059 Baboquivari and 96744 (1999 OW3).  Observations will be conducted in order to investigate whether visible spectrophotometry from the Cerro-Tololo International Observatory’s 1 m telescope is consistent with spectrophotometry by SDSS. If found to be inconsistent, I will attempt the reasons for the observational inconsistencies.

About the candidate:  Christopher Miko is an active duty Air Force officer currently serving as an ROTC instructor at Purdue University, IN. He has a bachelor’s degree in physics and astronomy from Valparaiso University, IN and is a current distance student at University of North Dakota. He has had a passion for space his entire life, and studying asteroids is just one expression of it. In his free time, he enjoys spending time with his wife, two dogs, running, and church.

******Those unable to attend in person may view the live webcast******

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