DiscoveringAsteroidsDuringATotalSolarEclipse

Vishnu Vardhan Reddy, University of North Dakota

5:00 PM, 3rd of June 2009

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Vulcanoids! The name sounds like something that a somewhat immature space crazy young person might flip over.

But, No. These are very soberly hypothesised possible asteroids orbiting the Sun in very close orbits, closer to the Sun, than Mercury. Interestingly, their presence or absence, also seems to have something to say about cosmological theories.

Data and images from the SOHO (Solar and Heliospheric Observatory) have been analysed to look for Vulcanoids and the possibility of existence of bodies larger than about 60 km in diameter, orbiting the Sun between 0.08-0.21 AU have been ruled out. Data from the Messenger spacecraft before its Mercury orbit insertion in 2011 is also being used to search for Vulcanoids as small as 15 km in diameter which might be orbiting the outer 50 percent of the Vulcanoid volume.

SOHO and MERCURY spacecrafts. What else?

Total Solar Eclipses! Yet another exciting way of looking for the elusive Vulcanoid asteroids. Be there for the lecture by Vishnu Vardhan reddy to find out about the plans for such a search, during the Total Solar Eclipse of July 22 2009, whose totality belt passes through India, China and Japan.

Talk Abstract

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