| Session Details | |
| Section | PS - Planetary Sciences |
| Session Title | Role Of Small Bodies In The Formation Of The Solar System: From Interplanetary Dust To Planetary Moons |
| Main Convener | Dr. Padma A Yanamandra-Fisher (Space Science Institute, United States) |
| Co-convener(s) | Dr. Ludmilla Kolokolova (University of Maryland, United States) Dr. Aigen Li (University of Missouri-Columbia, United States) Prof. Anny-Chantal Levasseur-Regourd (UPMC (Univ Paris 6), France) Dr. Zhong-Yi Lin (National Central University, Taiwan) |
| Session Description | Solar System Small bodies, ranging from dust particles to primitive bodies (asteroids, comets, minor planets, KBOs) and planetary moons and ring systems present a spectrum of targets for future exploration. Results from recent missions in 2015 such as NASA/New Horizons to the Pluto System and now enroute to a KBO, ESA/Rosetta mission to comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, NASA/DAWN mission of Vesta and Ceres, ESA/Gaia, and new missions such as JAXA/Hyabusa2 mission to an asteroid; NASA/Europa Clipper mission,etc. illustrate the importance of studying these objects and their role in the formation and evolution of the solar system. The rich diversity of these objects is now being understood as unique building blocks of the solar system. Given their location in the solar system, composition and evolution, we have windows into the inventory of the early solar system. The asteroid-comet spectrum blurs the line between these objects; discovery of rings around Centaurs; jets from planetary satellites are examples of large diversity that exists in our solar system. We invite presentations (oral and poster; invited, reviews and contributed) covering the broad themes of observations, models, laboratory measurements, instrumentation, missions, and related outreach and Citizen Science activities. |