Announcement

We are pleased to announce a scientific workshop aimed at engaging the broader research community in the preparation of the ESA NEOMIR mission. The workshop will focus on the discovery and physical characterization of Near-Earth Objects (NEOs) observable at low solar elongations — a population that remains largely unexplored yet is of critical importance for planetary defence.

The meeting will bring together experts in observational astronomy, dynamical and thermophysical modelling, and survey design to discuss the unique challenges associated with detecting small NEOs from space-based platforms, with particular emphasis on observations from the Sun–Earth L1 Lagrange point.

Topics will include:

• Detection techniques of NEOs with space telescopes
• Thermal background and zodiacal-light modelling at low solar elongations
• Thermophysical models of decametre-size NEAs observed near the Sun
• Detectability and survey performance of small NEOs from L1
• Reconstruction of impact trajectories, precovery and ground-base follow-up

The workshop aims to foster collaboration across the community, identify key science requirements for the mission, and strengthen broad involvement in the scientific preparation of NEOMIR.

• Javier LICANDRO (Chair) - Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias - Spain
• Anna MARCINIAK - Adam Mickiewicz University - Poland
• Csaba KISS - Konkoly Observatory, Hungary
• Federica SPOTO - MPC, Harvard, USA
• Julia DE LEON - Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias - Spain
• Karri MUINONENN - University of Helsinki’, Finland
• Luca CONVERSI - ESA, Planetary Defence Office, Italy
• Marcel POPESCU - Institute of Space Science, Romania
• Marco DELBO - Observatoire de la Côte d'Azur, France
• Paolo TANGA - Observatoire de la Côte d'Azur, France
• Sonia FORNASIER - Observatoire de Paris, France
• Thomas MÜLLER - Max-Planck-Institut für extraterrestrische Physik, Germany

Julien SERRECOURT, Javier LICANDRO, Marco DELBO, Luca CONVERSI, Marco DELBO, Thomas DYER.

Contact us : neomir@oca.eu.

The workshop will take place on the Le Saint-Paul Hotel (https://lesaintpaul-hotel.fr/en/home/). in Nice, France. Scientific sessions (talks and poster) will be held Tuesday and Wednesday , September 15 and 16, 2026.

The general costs of the workshop will be fully covered by NEOMIR and Observatoire de la Côte d'Azur (OCA). These include:

• Coffee breaks.
• Lunch served at the hotel Le Saint Paul restaurant.
• Conference materials.
• Venue and conference assistance.
  

   

  No fee will be charged to the participants.

  Registration is open, please register here: https://neomir-nice.sciencesconf.org/registration?lang=en (or the above "registration" button).

The deadline for abstract submission is 15 July 2026. The Organizing Committee anticipates completing the review of all submissions and issuing notification of acceptance decisions by the end of July.

For an abstract: t.b.d.


For a poster:  t.b.d.

First version of the program will be announced late July.

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