The modern ground- and space-based surveys (such as Gaia, SDSS, ATLAS) permit at least a partial physical characterization of hundreds of thousands of asteroids. Those numerous, sparse, and often incidental asteroid observations are balanced by relatively small in number, dense, targeted ground-based measurements. These allow for a more detailed, tailored analysis, both in terms of time spent on a single object and observing techniques currently not available in the survey mode (e.g., polarimetry, spectroscopy).

Modeling adds up to the correct interpretation of the observational data (e.g., shapes, thermal properties) and to the understanding of the evolution of asteroid populations (e.g., dynamics, collisions). Currently, we are witnessing convergence of various modeling techniques and observations, which leads to a more complete and coherent description of individual asteroids and propels us towards a better comprehension of the asteroid system as a whole.

This convergence of topics is is particularly visible in the study of asteroid families, natural laboratories that provide unique insights into diverse phenomena shaping our planetary system: observable evidence of large-scale catastrophic impacts, fingerprints left by mean motion and secular orbital resonances, non-gravitational effects, delivery of water to the near-Earth region, ...

The aim of this session is to bring together observers and modelists from different branches of asteroid science to discuss the complementarity of different strategies for studying asteroids. How can the traditional and survey-like observational data reinforce each other in the most efficient way? Which theoretical models must be improved for better interpretation of the observations? Which new observations will help to choose between contesting models? In the grand scheme of the asteroid evolution, which parts of the puzzle nicely fit together, which ones misfit and which are missing?

We invite all contributions concerning physical and/or dynamical modelling of asteroids based on traditional observations as well as survey-like data.

This session aims to bring together the community working on small bodies of the Outer Solar System and potential active objects in the Main Belt.

Recent data and theoretical advances on Comets, Trojans, Centaurs, TNOs, the discovery of interstellar objects and extrasolar comets, or the detection of an increasing number of Active Asteroids, give us new insights on the physical and dynamical properties of planetesimals beyond the "snow line". These findings hint at a continuum of objects that may display comparable properties or experience similar physical processes, from the outer Main Belt to the Oort cloud and beyond.

We invite contributions from all related topics, covering findings of the current-day status of main belt objects as well as theories on their formation and evolution, in relation to general models of the Solar System.

Throughout the session, we wish to foster lively discussions and collaborations between colleagues working on similar problems for different classes of objects (e.g. dust release from Active Asteroid vs Jupiter Family Comets vs outbursts of Centaurs). We encourage contributions that explore the continuum of small bodies and the overlap between different populations and look forward an exciting set of talks from ground based observers and from recent/future space missions.

The goal of this session is to cover numerical simulations and
relevant laboratory investigations related to the Small Bodies
(comets, KBOs, rings, asteroids, meteorites, dust), their formation
and evolution, and the instruments of their exploration.
This session is specially focused on the interdisciplinary approach
in the development of models (formal descriptions of physical phenomena),
experiments (on ground and in micro-gravity), and mathematical simulations
(computational methods and algorithms of solution) of various astrophysical
phenomena: (i) dusty gas cometary atmospheres; (ii) volcanic activity on icy
satellites (e.g. Enceladus and Io); (iii) planetary body formation
(e.g. via pebbles growth), and planetesimal dynamics.

This session will include an introduction and discussion of new and/or existing
laboratory studies in simulated space-like environments and models, experimental
techniques, computational methods that can address the results of analytical,
experimental and numerical analysis (with respect to computational methods and
algorithms of solution) on the above described studies.
Abstracts on thermophysical evolution models of small bodies interiors as well
as on the modeling of atmosphere and exosphere are welcome.

Electromagnetic scattering phenomena play a key role in determining the properties of Solar System objects based on observations using different techniques and in a variety of wavelengths ranging from the ultraviolet to the radio. This session will promote a general advancement in the exploitation of observational and experimental techniques to characterize complex particulate media. We particularly welcome discussions of future perspectives in the utilization of observational and experimental techniques to characterize small bodies surfaces in the context of new missions like Comet Interceptor, and also the planetary aerosols and dust in the solar system.

Abstracts are solicited on progress in observational, numerical, and laboratory methods to extract relevant information from imagery, photometry, polarimetry and spectroscopy in solid phase, reference laboratory databases, photometric and polarimetric modeling, software and web service applications.

Dust particles transport information over space and time through our solar system. Major sources are comets, asteroids and planetary rings. Planetary rings represent a special environment and the rings from Saturn have been studied extensively by Cassini. In the outer solar system, especially interstellar dust and kuiper belt sources are important. This session is open for all topics around Dust Astronomy: models and measurements about dust grain sources, sinks, dynamics and physical properties for particles from the nm to the mm size range. Simulations for the dust environment of small bodies, icy moons, or even the Earth and its moon are of interest. Predictions or measurements of dust particles by current and future missions are welcome. This might include missions like Parker Solar Probe, Solar Orbiter, Destiny+, BepiColombo, Juice and Europa. Measurement methods and related laboratory work complements the contents of this session.

This session aims to highlight recent laboratory results of Hayabusa2 returned (162173) Ryugu’s samples including curative work, preliminary initial analysis and preparatory work for future joint work.

It focuses as well to new challenges and the missing building blocks needed to understand the composition and physical properties of the material of primitive bodies, using laboratory work on meteorites or other available extraterrestrial materials as well as terrestrial reference materials (rocks, minerals, ice, organics). Results of these laboratory studies with relevant references to modelling early processes in the solar system, including the formation/evolution of small bodies, and in support of ongoing and planned missions to study these objects are welcome.

Addressing early solar system processes the session also welcomes laboratory studies related to origin of inorganic and organic matter in different astrophysical environments and contributions on laboratory investigations and models of parent bodies of various meteorite groups, IDPs, asteroids, comets and dwarf planets.

The asteroids in particular and the asteroid-comet-dwarf planet continuum in general bear the signature of the birth of the solar system. Their observed properties allow for testing theories regarding the evolution of the solar system's planetary objects and of their prospective development. Additional important insights into this exciting field of research are provided by the laboratory investigations of the samples delivered to the Earth in the form of meteorites and by sophisticated numerical models.
The session will gather researchers of different communities for a better understanding of the evolution and properties of small bodies, ranging from planetesimals or cometesimals to icy moons, and including meteorite parent bodies. It will address recent progresses made on physical and chemical properties of these objects, their interrelations and their evolutionary paths by observational, experimental, and theoretical approaches.

We welcome contributions on the studies of the processes on and the evolution of specific parent bodies of meteorites, investigations across the continuum of small bodies, including comets and icy moons, ranging from local and short-term to global and long-term (thermal and thermochemical) processes, studies of the surface dynamics on small bodies, studies of exogenous and endogenous driving forces of the processes involved, as well as statistical and numerical impact models for small bodies observed closely within recent space missions (e.g., Hayabusa2, New Horizons, OSIRIS-REx).

Near-Earth Objects (NEOs) are of great interest to the scientific community as well as the mining and planetary defence communities. Planetary defence can be considered as “applied planetary science” to address the NEO impact hazard. “Planetary Defence” encompasses all the capabilities needed to detect the potential and warn of asteroid or comet impacts with Earth, and then either prevent them or otherwise mitigate their possible effects.

ESA, NASA and partners worldwide maintain a watch for NEOs, including asteroids and comets that can pass within Earth’s vicinity, as part of an ongoing effort to discover, catalog, and characterize these bodies and to determine if any pose an impact threat. The NASA DART mission, which will perform a kinetic impact asteroid deflection test on the moon, called Dimorphos, of the asteroid binary system Didymos was launched in November 2021 and is on its way to its 26 September, 2022, encounter with the Didymos system. The ESA Hera mission is Europe’s contribution to this ambitious international planetary defence effort, planning for humankind’s first mission to rendezvous with a binary asteroid system and measure in great details the DART impact outcome on Dimorphos.

In addition, the scientific support of planetary defence has been quite active in the past year with observations around the world and various modeling activities, some of them being supported in Europe by the H2020 program of the European Union (projects NEO-MAPP and NEOROCKS). Also, computations of high-precision NEO orbits, continually updated calculations of orbital parameters, close approaches, impact risks, discovery statistics, mission designs as well as modeling of kinetic impacts all provide solutions used to predict NEO close approaches to Earth, produce comprehensive assessments of NEO impact probabilities over the next century and mitigation missions and techniques efficiencies.

In this session, we invite speakers to provide the latest results regarding the science of planetary defence. This includes results from space based and ground-based data, results from past and ongoing missions that are relevant for planetary defence as well as updates of planned missions which will significantly contribute and enhance the scientific knowledge for the global planetary defence strategy. We also propose to address international collaboration in strengthening preparedness in case of a potential NEO impact hazard, by addressing information-sharing and policy elements, and work by the two UN-endorsed entities, the Space Mission Planning Advisory Group (SMPAG) and the International Asteroid Warning Network (IAWN)in this area, and in collaboration with the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA). As an on-going initiative, we propose presenting efforts to declare 2029 an UN-designated year of planetary defence and asteroid awareness.

More than 10^7 kg of extraterrestrial objects or meteoroids ranging in size from a few microns to tens of meters in diameter enter the Earth’s atmosphere every year. A small fraction of these yields free samples of extraterrestrial matter - meteorites - for laboratory study. The majority, which burn up or ablate completely in the Earth’s atmosphere, appear as visible meteors in the night sky. Recording meteor activity and modelling the process of ablation allow us to measure directly the flux of small planetary impactors. This provides the 'ground truth' for estimating present cratering rates and planetary surface ages by implication.

The application of the latest observational and modeling techniques has rendered meteor science as one of the leading avenues for investigating the nature and origin of interplanetary matter and its parent bodies. This session will provide a forum for presenting fundamental results and novel ideas in this area and informing the broader planetary science community of the interdisciplinary impact of present and future work.

Impact processes shaped the Solar System, and modify planetary surfaces and small bodies until today. Impacts also have a technical application for Planetary Defence, exemplified by the joint ESA/NASA Asteroid Impact and Deflection Assessment (AIDA) collaboration and the scheduled impact of NASA's DART spacecraft onto Dimorphos in September this year.

This session aims at understanding impact processes at all scales in terms of shock metamorphism, dynamical aspects, geochemical consequences, environmental effects and biotic response, and cratering chronology. Naturally, advancing our understanding of impact phenomena requires a multidisciplinary approach, which includes (but it is not limited to) observations of craters, strewn field or airbursts, numerical modelling, laboratory experiments, geologic and structural mapping, remote sensing, as well as petrographic and geochemical analysis of impact products.

We welcome presentations across this broad range of studies about natural or artificial impact collision phenomena on planetary and small bodies. In particular, we encourage work that bridges the gap between the investigative methods employed in studying planetary impact processes at all scales.

The 2021 launches of the DART and Lucy spacecraft inaugurated a decade-long period of sustained mission flight rates to small bodies, with some fifteen individual spacecraft set to be dispatched to a diverse set of targets: near-Earth and main belt asteroids, cometary nuclei and comet-asteroid transition objects, Jupiter Trojans and small planetary moons.

This high flight rate implies concurrent operation of multiple spacecraft in-flight which, in turn, offers unprecedented opportunities for synergistic exploitation. For example, simultaneous observations of an asteroid or comet target from different vantage points across the solar system may be used to cross-verify instrument calibration, monitor for changes of the target and/or its environment over long time periods and expand observational coverage beyond the geometric and temporal constraints of any one mission.

In addition, new Earth-based and near-Earth survey facilities stand to complement the spacecraft investigations by allowing additional target characterisation and to apply the lessons learned from the targeted in situ studies at population level.

In this session we invite contributions focusing on such coordinated observations as to allow cross-calibration of spacecraft instruments, complement target characterisation efforts and for added science value. In this way, we hope to motivate the community to generate ideas for cross-project investigations. Flight projects relevant to this call include (but are not limited to) the DART, DESTINY+, Hayabusa II, HERA, Janus, Lucy, M-ARGO, Mars Moon eXplorer, NEA Scout, Psyche, Zheng-He and Comet Interceptor missions as well as Earth-based assets such as Gaia, JWST and the Rubin telescope. 

Shape, gravity field, orbit, tidal deformation, and rotation state are fundamental geodetic parameters of any planetary object. Measurements of these parameters are prerequisites for e.g. spacecraft navigation and mapping from orbit, but also for modelling of the interior and evolution. This session welcomes contributions from all aspects of planetary geodesy, including the relevant theories, observations and models in application to planets, satellites, ring systems, asteroids, and comets.

Ionospheres are a fundamental part of planetary and cometary atmospheres that are formed by solar radiation and are affected by a myriad of different processes, such as space weather activity or neutral atmosphere variations. Moreover, ionospheres play an important role in controlling the dynamics of the system, as they are the link between the neutral atmosphere, exosphere and surrounding plasma environments (e.g. the solar wind for Mars, Venus, Pluto and comets, and the Kronian magnetosphere for Titan). Understanding how each unmagnetized body reacts to all these factors is a key in comparative aeronomy because although a priori all of them have a general similar behaviour, they also have scientifically important differences caused by their different natures.

This session focuses on the ionospheres of Mars, Venus, Pluto, Titan, and comets, and solicits abstracts concerning remote and in situ data analysis, modelling studies, instrumentation and mission concepts. Abstracts on planetary flybys, such as the BepiColombo and Solar Orbiter flybys to Venus, are also welcome. Topics may include, but are not limited to, day and night side ionospheric variability, sources and influences of ionization, ion-neutral coupling, current systems, comparative ionospheric studies, and solar wind-ionosphere interactions and responses of the ionized and neutral regimes to transient space weather events. Abstracts on general plasma and escape processes are also welcome.

Astrobiology is the study of whether present or past life exists elsewhere in the universe. To understand how life can begin in space, it is essential to know what organic compounds were likely available, and how they interacted with the planetary environment. This session seeks papers that offer existing/novel theoretical models or computational works that address the chemical and environmental conditions relevant to astrobiology on terrestrial planets/moons or ocean worlds, along with other theoretical, experimental, and observational works related to the emergence and development of Life in the Universe. This includes work related to prebiotic chemistry, the chemistry of early life, the biogeochemistry of life’s interaction with its environment, chemistry associated with biosignatures and their false positives, and chemistry pertinent to conditions that could possibly harbor life (e.g. Titan, Enceladus, Europa, TRAPPIST-1, habitable exoplanets, etc.). Understanding how the planetary environment has influenced the evolution of life and how biological processes have changed the environment is an essential part of any study of the origin and search for signs of life. Earth analogues experiments/instruments test and/or simulation campaigns and limits of life studies are included as well as one of the main topics of this session. Major Space Agencies identified planetary habitability and the search for evidence of life as a key component of their scientific missions in the next two decades. The development of instrumentation and technology to support the search for complex organic molecules/sings of life/biosignatures and the endurance of life in space environments is critical to define unambiguous approaches to life detection over a broad range of planetary environments.