Relazione su invito
Comets: Vera Rubin LSST survey to search for the ESA/Comet Interceptor target.
Inno L., Bertini I., Fulle M., Rotundi A., Vanzanella A., Fiscale S., Della Corte V., Mazzotta Epifani E., Piccirillo A.M., Tubiana C., Ammannito E., Sindoni G.
Comet Interceptor (CI), the first selected ESA F-class mission, will be launched in 2029 and break many records: 1) it will be the first space probe to perform a close flyby of a pristine Long Period Comet (LPC) or an interstellar comet; 2) it will be designed and possibly launched before its target is even known; 3) it will comprise three spacecraft, adding multi-dimensionality to the information gathered by the onboard instruments. CI will be parked at the stable Lagrange point L2 for about 2 years, waiting for the discovery of a suitable target that will be intercepted close to the ecliptic plane. Such a challenging strategy will be feasible with the support of the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) that will be carried out by the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, in Chile. LSST, a deep, time-resolved 10-year survey of the entire southern sky, will be the best equipped facility for early detection of CI potential targets. In this talk, I will present the LSST survey and the ongoing work that I am leading in the framework of the Solar System Science Collaboration to prepare for Comet Interceptor.