Neorockers and Dart….Focus on University of Padova

What has the University of Padova being doing for DART?

Professor Monica Lazzarin from the Department of Physics and Astronomy is DART Team Investigation member and she participates in the international campaign of ground based observations of Didymos and Dimorphos before and after the impact. Other Neorockers in her team are also involved. Fiorangela La Forgia is a member of the DART Investigation Team, the Groundbased Observations WG.

Moreover, they are taking part in the global observational campaign of Didymos, in particular using the Asiago telescopes (incl. the 1.80m Asiago telescope).

Let’s focus for a minute on ground-based characterisation of the Didymos system prior to the impact. Available data in literature was scarce, with only limited spectra taken during previous observational windows. Spectral characterisation is crucial due to Didymos binary nature, in order to disentangle the contribution of the primary from the secondary body and asses the heterogeneity of the surface composition. Remote characterisation of the system was undertaken using ground based observations at different rotational phases during 2021.

You can learn more about all of this at a public conference on DART and HERA at the University of Padova on the 1st of October. More details here.

B.T.W this event is part of the celebrations for the University of Padova’s 800th birthday!!