Banner image placeholder
Banner image
Site avatar
Arushi Nath
Founder, MonitorMyPlanet.com Masason Scholarship Holder. IAU MPC Code R60


Third Grand Award Winner, International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF), 2025.
Second Grand Award Winner, European Union Contest for Young Scientists (EUCYS), 2024.
Top Award, Canada Wide Science Fair 2023, 2022.



Site avatar
Arushi Nath
Founder, MonitorMyPlanet.com Masason Scholarship Holder. IAU MPC Code R60

Contact
Site avatar
Arushi Nath
Founder, MonitorMyPlanet.com Masason Scholarship Holder. IAU MPC Code R60


Third Grand Award Winner, International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF), 2025.
Second Grand Award Winner, European Union Contest for Young Scientists (EUCYS), 2024.
Top Award, Canada Wide Science Fair 2023, 2022.




馃敪
Sole author in the aerospace journal Acta Astronautica 路 A contributor of calibrated photometry to NASA's DART/Didymos study (The Planetary Science Journal) 路 IAU Minor Planet Center code R60 路 Grand Awards at ISEF & EUCYS 路 5 sole-authored + 2 co-authored peer-reviewed papers 路 presented at AGU, LPSC, LSST, NESF, SciPy & ExoClock conferences

Current Research

I study the physical properties of near-Earth, potentially hazardous, and binary asteroids - their rotation periods, shapes, spin states, and satellites - from open, ground-based photometry, and I develop algorithms to scale that analysis to large surveys such as the Vera C. Rubin Observatory (LSST). I also work on exoplanet transit-timing variations (TTV).

What I am working on now:

  • Planetary defence - characterising the rotation, shape, and taxonomy of newly discovered near-Earth and potentially hazardous asteroids; I predicted asteroid Torifune's spin phase for JAXA's Hayabusa2 flyby from open survey data.
  • Binary asteroids - rotation and mutual-event studies of binary systems, including the Hungaria binary (1727) Mette (paper in preparation for the Minor Planet Bulletin).
  • Survey-scale algorithms for Rubin/LSST - automated methods to recover rotation periods, shapes, and unusual variability (tumbling, candidate binaries) from the sparse, multi-band photometry the Vera C. Rubin Observatory will deliver for millions of moving objects.
  • Exoplanet transit-timing variations (TTV) - extending exoplanet ephemerides and predicting unseen planets from timing anomalies.

PLANETARY DEFENCE 路 JAXA Hayabusa2 Mission

Rotational Phase of Asteroid (98943) Torifune During Hayabusa2鈥檚 2026 Flyby

Arushi Nath 路 4 July 2026

My phase-folded ZTF light curve of asteroid Torifune (P = 5.02 h), used to predict which face the Hayabusa2 spacecraft would see at closest approach.

On July 5, 2026, Japan's Hayabusa2 spacecraft races past the near-Earth asteroid Torifune at 5 km/s, skimming within about a kilometre of a 450-metre rock we've barely seen. Torifune spins once every five hours, so the spacecraft only glimpses whichever face happens to be turned toward it. Using open public sky-survey data, orbital geometry, and algorithms, I predicted - before the flyby - which side the spacecraft would see, and showed why it should catch the asteroid at the shorter side. Soon Hayabusa2's own images will tell us whether I got it right.

Read more


RESEARCH OBSERVATORY 路 Engineering for Millimagnitude Precision

Building My Remote Observatory at 15: Engineering for Millimagnitude Photometry Precision

Arushi Nath 路 28 May 2026

Building my remote observatory: mounting on a custom permanent pier, attaching the telescope tube, and integrating the optical train (camera, filters, and off-axis guider).

How I built my research-grade remote observatory in southern Spain dark-night skies at fifteen to study near-Earth asteroids and multiplanetary systems: the engineering decisions behind millimagnitude photometry, the fundraising and Masason Foundation grant, debugging a loose screw 7,000 km away, and what the International Astronomical Union (IAU) Minor Planet Center code R60 now lets me contribute to planetary defence.

Read more


INTERNATIONAL TALK 路 Asteroid Shape & Spin Presentation

My Second Year at Kyiv's Young Scientists' Conference on Astronomy and Space Physics 2026: Presenting the Shape and Spin of Asteroid 2025 FA22

Arushi Nath 路 28 April 2026

I presented my characterisation of newly discovered potentially hazardous asteroid 2025 FA22 at the Kyiv Young Scientists' Conference. From time-resolved CCD photometry I measured a rotation period of 13.075 卤 0.002 hours, a 0.62-magnitude double-peaked light curve indicating an elongated body, and multi-band BVRI colours placing it in the S-complex taxonomy.

Read more


SOLE-AUTHOR PEER-REVIEWED PUBLICATION 路 Hazardous Asteroid Characterisation

Photometric Characterisation of Newly Discovered Potentially Hazardous Asteroid 2025 FA22

Arushi Nath 路 15 April 2026

Photometric Characterisation of Newly Discovered Potentially Hazardous Asteroid 2025 FA22

My photometric study of potentially hazardous asteroid 2025 FA22, published in the Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, reports a 13.075 卤 0.002-hour rotation period, a 0.62-magnitude amplitude implying an elongated shape, and BVRI colours placing it in the S-complex taxonomy.


CITIZEN-SCIENCE PROJECT 路 Tracking Artemis II From Earth

MonitorMyMoon.com: Tracking Artemis II from Launch Pad to Splashdown Using Open Science - From Toronto

Arushi Nath 路 12 April 2026

Since Artemis II launched in April 2026, I have been tracking the crewed spacecraft from Toronto using open science alone - combining public tracking data, robotic-telescope imaging, and seismic and infrasound array records to follow it from launch toward splashdown, and sharing the methods openly at MonitorMyMoon.com.


INTERNATIONAL TALK 路 Asteroid Findings at LPSC

How I Characterised a Newly Discovered Potentially Hazardous Asteroid and Presented the Findings at the 57th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (LPSC)

Arushi Nath 路 30 March 2026

Read more

How I Characterised a Newly Discovered Potentially Hazardous Asteroid and Presented the Findings at the 57th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (LPSC)

At the 57th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (2026) I presented my characterisation of potentially hazardous asteroid 2025 FA22: a rotation period of 13.075 卤 0.002 hours, a 0.62-magnitude double-peaked light curve indicating an elongated body, and BVRI colours consistent with an S-complex classification, all from open ground-based photometry.


SOLE-AUTHOR PEER-REVIEWED PUBLICATION 路 Asteroid Shape & Spin Results

Shape and Spin of Newly Discovered Potentially Hazardous Asteroid 2025 FA22

Arushi Nath 路 28 March 2026

Read more

Shape and Spin of Newly Discovered Potentially Hazardous Asteroid 2025 FA22
Results published in the Minor Planet Bulletin. Volume 53, Number 2, 2026.

I measured the shape and spin of newly discovered potentially hazardous asteroid 2025 FA22 during its September 2025 close approach: a 13.075 卤 0.002-hour rotation period and a 0.62-magnitude, double-peaked light curve pointing to an elongated body, published in the Minor Planet Bulletin.


CO-AUTHOR PEER-REVIEWED PUBLICATION 路 Exoplanet Catalog

Co-author with K. Kokori et al.

ExoClock Project. IV. A Homogeneous Catalog of 620 Updated Exoplanet Ephemerides

Arushi Nath 路 22 March 2026

Read more

ExoClock Project. IV. A Homogeneous Catalog of 620 Updated Exoplanet Ephemerides

As a co-author of ExoClock Project IV (Kokori et al. 2026, ApJS), I contributed ground-based transit observations toward a homogeneous catalogue of updated ephemerides for 620 exoplanets - keeping their transit predictions accurate for follow-up by missions such as ESA's Ariel.

Read more


NASA RECOGNITION 路 DART Investigation Team

Three Years Ago I Asked a Question at the NASA DART Conference. The Answer Just Arrived.

Arushi Nath 路 12 March 2026

NASA Group Achievement Award certificate

At the 2023 Planetary Defense Conference I asked Dr. Andy Rivkin whether the ejecta thrown off Dimorphos by NASA's DART impact would fall onto Didymos and change its rotation. Two new papers have now answered yes, and the DART observation team I contributed to received a NASA Group Achievement Award.

Read more


CITIZEN-SCIENCE PROJECT 路 Interstellar Comet Astrometry

New Observation: Precision Astrometry of the Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS

Arushi Nath 路 5 February 2026

Read more

New Observation: Precision Astrometry of the Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS

I imaged the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS (C/2025 N1) from my remote observatory and measured its precise sky position, calibrating my astrometry against the Gaia DR3 catalogue as part of the International Asteroid Warning Network campaign.

Read more


SOLE-AUTHOR PEER-REVIEWED PUBLICATION 路 Asteroid Rotation, Revisited

Sole author

Rotation Period of Asteroid (2977) Chivilikhin: Revisiting a Decade Later

Arushi Nath 路 30 January 2026

Read more

Rotation Period of  Asteroid (2977) Chivilikhin: Revisiting a Decade Later
Results published in the Minor Planet Bulletin. Volume 53, Number 1, 2026.
The Minor Planet Bulletin (MPB) call list is a key resource for astronomers to identify asteroids that are due for observational campaigns. When (2977) Chivilikhin appeared on the list for its 2025 apparition, I decided to measure its lightcurve again, as its rotation period had last been measured nearly a decade ago. My observations revealed a synodic rotation period of 6.257 卤 0.001 hours with a peak-to-peak amplitude of 0.98 magnitudes. This result is consistent with the 2016 data (6.257 卤 0.0007 hours), showing that the asteroid鈥檚 rotation has remained stable.


Read more

INTERNATIONAL TALK 路 Exoplanet Ephemerides for Ariel

Extending Exoplanet Ephemerides using N-Body Simulations: Citizen Science Support to the European Space Agency's Ariel Telescope

Arushi Nath 路 8 October 2025

Read more

Extending Exoplanet Ephemerides using N-Body Simulations: Citizen Science Support to the European Space Agency's Ariel Telescope
Presenting at 5th ExoClock Annual Meeting in Madrid, Spain.
On October 4, 2025, I gave an oral presentation of my year-long research, "Extending Exoplanet Ephemerides through TTV Analysis with NEPTUNE and Ground-Based Observations," at the 5th ExoClock Annual Meeting held at the Polytechnic University of Madrid, Spain. I shared how I performed 100,000+ computer simulations of Transit Timing Variations (TTVs) and combined them with ground based photometry data to extend the orbital ephemerides of exoplanets. The meeting was attended by 100+ scientists and astronomers working on refining exoplanet ephemerides in preparation for the ESA Ariel telescope.

Read more

INTERNATIONAL AWARD 路 TTV Exoplanet Prediction (NEPTUNE)

N-body Exoplanet Prediction Using TTV for Unseen Exoplanets (NEPTUNE): Wins Third Grand Award at the International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF 2025), USA

Arushi Nath 路 18 May 2025

N-body Exoplanet Prediction Using TTV for Unseen Exoplanets (NEPTUNE): Wins Third Grand Award at the International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF 2025), USA
Winning Third Grand Award at 2025 ISEF in Columbus, Ohio

I built NEPTUNE, a method that finds exoplanets which never transit by measuring the transit-timing variations they induce on planets that do. Using N-body simulations to fit the timing anomalies, I recovered hidden-companion orbits and validated the approach against the known Kepler-46 system - work that won a Third Grand Award at the 2025 International Science and Engineering Fair.

Read more


RESEARCH TOOL 路 Survey-Scale Asteroid Characterisation

PhAst: Accelerated Asteroid Characterisation Combining Sparse Data from Sky Surveys

Arushi Nath 路 29 June 2024

PhAst phase curve of asteroid Didymos

PhAst is an open-science pipeline that accelerates asteroid characterisation by fusing sparse survey photometry (Gaia DR3, ZTF) with dense targeted and citizen-scientist data. I used it to characterise the DART target Didymos and about 2,100 asteroids, including targets of the NASA Lucy and UAE missions.

Read more


INTERNATIONAL AWARD 路 Planetary Defence Algorithms

Developing Algorithms to Determine Asteroid's Physical Properties: Wins Second Prize Award at the European Union Contest for Young Scientists (EUCYS 2023), Brussels

Arushi Nath 路 September 2023

My open-source algorithms measure an asteroid's rotation period, shape, and size from ground- and space-based photometry, and assess whether a deflection attempt succeeded. Applied to NASA's DART target, the work won Second Prize at the 34th EU Contest for Young Scientists (Brussels, 2023) and became my sole-authored paper in Acta Astronautica.

Read more


NATIONAL AWARD 路 Canada Wide Science Fair Top Prize

Canada-Wide Science Fair (CWSF) 2023 Best Project Award

Arushi Nath 路 May 2023

Developing Algorithms to Determine Asteroid's Physical Properties and Success of Deflection Missions

My project developed open-source algorithms to determine an asteroid's physical properties and measure the success of a deflection mission, applied to NASA's DART impact on Didymos. It won the 2023 Best Project Award at the Canada-Wide Science Fair, plus five category awards; I had also won the top award in 2022.

Read more


CONFERENCE POSTER 路 DART Mission Citizen Science

Citizen Science for NASA Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) Mission: 2023 Planetary Defense Conference, UNOOSA, Vienna

Arushi Nath 路 15 April 2023

Explaining my research to Dr. Andy Rivkin, Lead of NASA's DART Investigation Team, at the 2023 Planetary Defense Conference.

Citizen Science for NASA Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) Mission: 2023 Planetary Defense Conference, UNOOSA, Vienna

Over 2022-2023 I contributed 55+ hours of calibrated photometry of the Didymos-Dimorphos system and, with my own algorithms, measured the decrease in Dimorphos's mutual orbital period (11.91 h to 11.35 h) - the direct signature of NASA's successful DART deflection. I presented this at the 8th IAA Planetary Defense Conference at UNOOSA, Vienna.

Read more


CONFERENCE POSTER 路 DART Asteroid Research Poster

Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (LPSC) 2023 Poster Presentation

Arushi Nath 路 March 2023

(My Research Poster in 20 threaded tweets)

Strengthening Planetary Defence: Developing Algorithms to Determine the Physical Properties of Asteroids using Robotic Telescopes and Applying them to Measure the Impact of NASA's DART Asteroid Deflection Mission

The pace of discovery of near-earth asteroids outpaces current abilities to analyse them. Knowledge of an asteroid's physical properties is essential to deflect them. I developed open-source algorithms that combine images from robotic telescopes and open data to determine asteroids' size, rotation, and strength. I took observations of the Didymos binary asteroid, and my algorithm determined it to be 850m wide, with a 2.26-hour rotation period and rubble pile strength. I measured a 35-minute decrease in the mutual orbital period after impact by the 2022 NASA DART Mission. External sources validated the findings. Every citizen scientist is now a planetary defender.

Read more


CITIZEN-SCIENCE PROJECT 路 Asteroid Detection Algorithms

Strengthening Planetary Defence: Detecting Unknown Asteroids using Open Data, Math, and Python

Arushi Nath 路 March 2023

I took images from 4 telescopes located at different latitudes to get full sky coverage. I wrote Python algorithms to query European Space Agency's Gaia and NASA/JPL's Horizons ephemeris system to find all known stars and asteroids. Mean, standard deviation, and histograms created masks to remove known objects. The remaining objects were classified as possible asteroid candidates.

I detected 3 'preliminary' asteroids. Using the telescope's focal length and celestial location, my algorithm's plate-solving ability determined its Right Ascension and Declination. I reported this information by creating a Minor Planet Center report for my images. I have made my code and methodology open-source to crowdsource planetary defence.

Read more


SOLE-AUTHOR PEER-REVIEWED PUBLICATION 路 Foundations of Planetary Defence

Finding Unknown Asteroids to Strengthen Planetary Defence

Arushi Nath 路 February 2023

The success of the NASA Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) Mission in slamming a kinetic impactor on moonlet Dimorphos of asteroid Didymos on 2022 September 26 and changing its orbit has put the planetary defence on world news. The challenge of planetary defence intrigues me. Roughly 66 million years ago, an asteroid at least 10 kilometres wide may have led to the extinction of dinosaurs. If humans do not want to suffer the same fate, then we need to be well-informed and prepared to handle any threats of an asteroid colliding with Earth.

Read more


INVITED TALK 路 Remote Telescope Webinar

iTelescope.net Webinar: Asteroid Science with Remote Telescope with a focus on DART Mission

Arushi Nath 路 30 November 2022

Citizen science and robotic telescopes have brought astronomy to everyone, from school kids to backyard astronomers and those staying in rural areas with dark skies to city dwellers living under a light cloud. For the past two years, Arushi Nath, age 13, has been using robotic telescopes, open datasets, python algorithms, and middle school maths to undertake research on near-earth asteroids. Astrometry-related observations helped her identify asteroids, provide information about their celestial location, and predict their future locations. Photometry involved taking images of the asteroid to find its magnitude. Longer observations yield a change in magnitude, which makes it possible to find the rotational period. For binary asteroids, she uses light curves to find the moonlet鈥檚 orbital period. As with all her research, she makes her datasets and methodology open source to reach out to other youths and citizen scientists.

https://hotpoprobot.com/2022/11/24/webinar-asteroid-science-with-remote-telescope/

Share

Translate to