Stage 4

Cosmology and Interstellar Medium, Particle- and Quantumphysics, Rocketry and Human Spaceflight, Space Astronomy and Solar System Science

"Investigation of hypervelocity impact flashes using commercially available recording equipment."

This projects aims are to measure the colour temperature of the impact flash in order to calculate the speed of impact and to measure the impact flash intensity in order to calculate the impactor size. An observational program of hypervelocity impacts will be run for collecting data. These impacts will range in speed and target / impactor compositions. The preferred impact combinations of impactor and target are chosen to be basalt on basalt or iron-nickel analogue on basalt. Different combinations of target materials and impactor are possible. Measuring light flashes in hypervelocity impacts have been investigated for several decades. However, there is a renewed interest in the subject. At the European Planetary Science Congress in 2012, various observational programs of the Lunar surface detecting impact flashes have been introduced. This project can be used as a starting point for anyone who is interested to set up their own monitoring program as well as a source for calibration data for national space agencies like NASA, ESA or JAXA etc.

Supervisor: Dr M. Price

Poster presentation of final year undergraduate project at the PETER Conference 2013 at the Institute of Physics in London.