Consequences for Detection Asteroid Albedos & Consequences for Detection by NEA Survey Programs Contributed by Eric B. Grosfils Pomona College

Astronomy: Sky Surveys Great idea! But not so simple in practice… It’s a big solar system out there! Trade off between detection size limit and survey speed/effectiveness. Asteroids are dark… much like asteroid Eros (10 km x 30 km) shown here (it really is here, even if you cannot see it) with albedos of a few percent, think looking for lumps of coal set against the black vastness of space! Eros’ Albedo: 5% Goals and problems with sky survey… Flip through next few slides to illustrate why albedo poses such a large problem!

Astronomy: Sky Surveys 10% 10%

Astronomy: Sky Surveys 20% 20%

Astronomy: Sky Surveys 30% 30%

Astronomy: Sky Surveys 40% 40%

Astronomy: Sky Surveys 50% 50%... You get the point!