At the 9th IAA Planetary Defense Conference, Asteroid Institute engineer Kathleen Kiker delivered a virtual presentation titled LSST & Impactors: How Much Warning Time for Asteroid Impacts Will We Have in the Vera Rubin Era? Kathleen presented findings from simulation-based analyses using synthetic impactor populations and modeled observations to evaluate the detection performance of the Rubin Observatory’s LSST data for Near-Earth Objects (NEOs).

These simulations revealed that LSST data alone may be insufficient to provide adequate warning for smaller or harder-to-detect NEOs. The results highlight the importance of advanced linking algorithms and complementary observation strategies to improve detection rates and extend warning times. The session concluded with a short Q&A with participating scientists.

Learn more about the Asteroid Institute at b612.ai and explore the open-source tools featured in the presentation on GitHub.

The B612 Foundation has been a sponsor of the Planetary Defense Conference since its inception in 2009, underscoring its enduring commitment to planetary defense and asteroid detection.