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Student Research Symposium (SRS)

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Constraining The Impact Threat From Small Bodies In Near Earth And Cislunar Space, Skylar G. Butler, Jarrett Dieterle, Henry Sanders, Aiden Kelleher Feb 2026

Constraining The Impact Threat From Small Bodies In Near Earth And Cislunar Space, Skylar G. Butler, Jarrett Dieterle, Henry Sanders, Aiden Kelleher

Student Research Symposium (SRS)

Understanding and mitigating the impact threat posed by small bodies in near-Earth and cislunar space is vital for planetary defense, spacecraft safety, and sustainable space operations. This research integrates dynamical evolution modeling, synthetic observations, and reprocessed infrared data to assess the origins and potential hazards of debris from young asteroid families. By modeling the trajectories and orbital evolution of fragments from the Datura, Emilkowalski, 1992 YC2, Lucascavin (Nesvorný & Vokrouhlický, 2006), and Veritas (Nesvorný et al., 2003) families, we constrain how these sources contribute to near-Earth debris populations. Reprocessing Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS) data with Fourier-filtering techniques reveals fine-structure variations …


Solar Wind–Magnetosphere Coupling During The September 2025 Cme: Multi-Spacecraft Analysis Using Mms And Omni Data, Skylar G. Butler, Margret Stanley Feb 2026

Solar Wind–Magnetosphere Coupling During The September 2025 Cme: Multi-Spacecraft Analysis Using Mms And Omni Data, Skylar G. Butler, Margret Stanley

Student Research Symposium (SRS)

A sequence of two coronal mass ejections (CMEs) impacted Earth in early September 2025, producing consecutive geomagnetic disturbances. The first CME, launched on 31 August 2025 and observed as a halo in SOHO/LASCO imagery, reached Earth on 1 September (~20:45 UTC), generating a clear interplanetary shock. OMNI 1-min solar-wind data show a sudden rise in |B| from ≈ 5 nT to > 25 nT, proton density and velocity increases (≈ 350 → 600 km s⁻¹), and a southward IMF Bz interval that drove enhanced coupling. The Kyoto Dst index recorded a sudden storm commencement followed by a minimum of −75 nT …


How Hidden Companions Skew Stellar Ages: A Binary-Inclusive Analysis Of Ngc 2168, Skylar G. Butler Feb 2026

How Hidden Companions Skew Stellar Ages: A Binary-Inclusive Analysis Of Ngc 2168, Skylar G. Butler

Student Research Symposium (SRS)

We expand upon our previous analysis of NGC 2168 (M35), which investigated the precision of isochrone-based age determination for individual main-sequence stars using photometric modeling. Building on that earlier framework, we now assess how inferred stellar ages change when each object is modeled under the assumption that it may possess an unresolved binary companion. Using post burn in posterior samples from the same dataset, we computed the mean Stage 3 ages for more than 3,000 cluster members with binaries turned on, allowing a direct comparison to our prior results with binaries turned off. The resulting age distribution peaks near 2.1 …


Modeling The Secondary Catastrophic Disruption Of The Veritas Family, Jarrett Dieterle, Skylar G. Butler, Aiden Kelleher Feb 2026

Modeling The Secondary Catastrophic Disruption Of The Veritas Family, Jarrett Dieterle, Skylar G. Butler, Aiden Kelleher

Student Research Symposium (SRS)

The Veritas asteroid family, located in the outer main belt, is believed to have formed from the catastrophic breakup of a parent body approximately 8.3 million years ago (e.g., Nesvorný et al., 2003). Larger fragments remained in the main belt, while smaller particles evolved inward under radiation forces, forming a toroidal dust structure observable in infrared data as paired bands. Previous studies (e.g., Dermott et al., 2001) have shown that these bands can be linked to their parent families and modeled from their initial disruptions. We propose that the 10° dust bands associated with Veritas may record evidence of a …