2024 events

Sun 31st
14:30-15:00
Starlight Room

(594913) 'Aylo'Chaxnim : A new asteroid inside the orbit of Venus

Warwick Kissling

RASNZ

In this talk I describe the discovery of the first known asteroid which orbits completely within the orbit of Venus. I also describe the challenges involved in simulating its motion for periods of up to 10 million years into the future. Using a 'simplified' solar system with only 5 planets to reduce computation time, we find the asteroid shows very unusual behaviour which suggests its present orbit inside Venus will likely not last for too long.

Warwick Kissling has been an amateur astronomer for more than 50 years. He has a PhD in Engineering/applied mathematics and works in the Earth Sciences modelling the flow of underground hot water in geothermal systems in New Zealand. He enjoys applying his mathematical modelling skills to astronomical problems.