Ground-Based Search for Asteroidal Satellites Using Adaptive Optics.
Dr. William Merline and colleagues from the Southwest Research Institute will conduct a search for satellites of asteroids using adaptive optics systems at Mt. Wilson in California and the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope on Mauna Kea, Hawaii. The sample will include ~200 asteroids over three years. Any positive result will yield a mass of the detected system, thus its density and powerful constraints on its mineralogy, meteorite association, and chemical and physical history. The research will strongly condition theories about delivery of material into the inner Solar System.
