Finding Asteroids Before They Strike - Astronomy on Tap - 1/24/2022

How do scientists discover space objects that might impact the Earth? Can objects and their orbits be identified entirely by machine learning techniques? We welcome the science advisor to the film "Don't Look Up!" and head of NASA's NEOWISE mission Dr. Amy Mainzer, as well as the discoverer of Comet C/2020 T2 and deep learning expert Dr. Dmitry Duev. Join us for a night of astronomy, drinks, and pub trivia! Timestamps below:
00:00 Announcements
05:38 Introduction to Asteroids Presentation
06:57 Asteroids Presentation
22:30 Q&A on Asteroids Presentation
39:07 Introduction to Machine Learning Presentation
40:07 Machine Learning Presentation
57:24 Q&A on Machine Learning Presentation
1:09:02 Pub Trivia Start
1:11:02 Trivia: Where did JWST arrive today?
1:17:22 Trivia:What was the first discovered retrograde asteroid?
1:22:06 Trivia:What feature defines the Prime Meridian of Mars?
1:26:44 Trivia:How many transient event alerts does ZTF create daily?
1:30:40 Trivia:What sometimes accompanies solar flares?
1:36:50 Trivia:How might we redirect asteroids?
1:45:11 Trivia: What is the most volcanic location in the Solar System?
1:51:06 Concluding remarks
Participants:
Dr. Amy Mainzer is a Professor in the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory at the University of Arizona and one of the world's leading scientists in asteroid detection and planetary defense. As principal investigator of NASA's Near-Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (NEOWISE) mission, Dr. Mainzer has overseen the largest space-based asteroid-hunting project in history. Dr. Mainzer’s research focuses on characterizing the populations of asteroids and comets through statistical measurements of their sizes, orbits, albedos, and rotational states; she also has studied brown dwarfs, ice giant planets, and star forming regions. Dr. Mainzer has received numerous awards and accolades for her research, including the NASA Exceptional Public Service Medal and NASA Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal. She is the former chair of the American Astronomical Society's Division for Planetary Sciences. Lastly, Dr. Mainzer has acted as science consultant for the PBS kids show "Ready, Jet, Go!" as well as the Netflix film "Don't Look Up!". en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amy_Mainzer
Dr. Dmitry Duev is an astrophysical researcher and data scientist currently employed at the machine learning startup Weights and Biases. Dr. Duev spent his early career working in radio astronomy and tracking satellites with Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) at JIVE in the Netherlands. He joined Caltech in 2015, where he pivoted towards using machine learning techniques on large astronomical surveys like the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF). Over the last 6 years at Caltech, he led the development of machine-learning tools responsible for the discovery of over 100 near-earth asteroids and comet C/2020 T2, the first AI-assisted cometary discovery in history. He now focuses on applying deep learning techniques to a more broad set of problems in industry. duev.space/
Dr. Cameron Hummels is a postdoctoral researcher in theoretical astrophysics at Caltech. He creates supercomputer simulations to study the formation and evolution of galaxies since the Big Bang. In addition to astrophysics and public education, he is really enthusiastic about trail-running, Death Valley, long-distance backpacking, brewing, chess, and the astronaut program. chummels.org

[@zapfanzapfan]

Excellent presentations! I will watch "Don't Look Up!" when I can do it with my astronomy friends. Edit: BTW, Finnish band Battle Beast just put out some new very good tracks, enjoy the metal! 🙂

[@CaltechAstro]

Glad you enjoyed it! I had a great time chatting with these two wonderful guests! Definitely check out "Don't Look Up" when you get a chance--the science is sound and it's quite a satire on modern society. I'll have to check out this band--thanks for the suggestion!

[@jari2018]

Who cares about metal -Listen to Swedish Dungen instead

[@zapfanzapfan]

@@jari2018 Smaken är som baken, delad.

[@michaleibusch3764]

Question: In movies they warn to destruct a large object in many dangerous smaller ones. While the area that directly takes a hit will increase/multiply, doesn't the main danger come from the fact that the global havoc is defined by the amount of ash that is pushed into the atmosphere, and this is defined by it's kinetic energy and interaction with earth's crust? Let's assume a 5km object is "extinct level" with decades of nuclear winter - wouldn't 100 objects of 100m size, and one or two with a max size of (let's assume) 1km, have less global impact? Wouldn't the majority of the impact mass will be distributed and evaporate before impact, or do not interact with earth crust?

[@literaturewithjayneel]

❤

[@toonmoene8757]

Movies that predict reality: The China Syndrome.