James M. Bauer

About

James M. Bauer is a Research Professor at the University of Maryland in the Department of Astronomy. His research focuses on the Solar System, including small bodies such as comets and asteroids, as well as planetary science. He has contributed to various studies involving the observation and analysis of interstellar comets, near-Earth objects, and minor planets, utilizing data from telescopes and space missions. Bauer's work includes photometry, spectroscopy, and reprocessing of observational data to better understand the composition, impact probabilities, and physical properties of small Solar System bodies. His research also involves the development of software tools for minor planet observation linking and the investigation of the cohesive strength of bilobated objects like Arrokoth. Bauer collaborates with research centers such as the Small Bodies Node and has been involved in recent publications related to interstellar comets, impact probability assessments, and planetary science with the SPHEREx catalog.

Research topics

• Astronomy
• Physics
• Astrobiology
• Geology
• Computer Science
• Artificial Intelligence
• Astrophysics
• Engineering
• Geodesy
• Aerospace engineering

Selected publications

• The Near-Earth Object Surveyor Mission

  The Planetary Science Journal · 2023 · 76 citations

  Abstract The Near-Earth Object (NEO) Surveyor mission is a NASA Observatory designed to discover and characterize asteroids and comets. The mission’s primary objective is to find the majority of objects large enough to cause severe regional impact damage (>140 m in effective spherical diameter) within its 5 yr baseline survey. Operating at the Sun–Earth L1 Lagrange point, the mission will survey to within 45° of the Sun in an effort to find objects in the most Earth-like orbits. The survey ca…

  DOI

• A Survey of CO, CO₂, and H₂O in Comets and Centaurs

  The Planetary Science Journal · 2022 · 55 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding

  Abstract CO and CO 2 are the two dominant carbon-bearing molecules in comae and have major roles in driving activity. Their relative abundances also provide strong observational constraints to models of solar system formation and evolution but have never been studied together in a large sample of comets. We carefully compiled and analyzed published measurements of simultaneous CO and CO 2 production rates for 25 comets. Approximately half of the comae have substantially more CO 2 than CO, about…

  DOI

• Asteroid Diameters and Albedos from NEOWISE Reactivation Mission Years 4 and 5

  The Planetary Science Journal · 2020 · 40 citations

  Abstract The Near-Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (NEOWISE) spacecraft has been conducting a two-band thermal infrared survey to detect and characterize asteroids and comets since its reactivation in 2013 December. Using the observations collected during the fourth and fifth years of the survey, our automated pipeline detected candidate moving objects that were verified and reported to the Minor Planet Center. Using these detections, we perform thermal modeling of each object fr…

  DOI

• Asteroid Diameters and Albedos from NEOWISE Reactivation Mission Years Six and Seven

  The Planetary Science Journal · 2021 · 32 citations

  Abstract We present diameters and albedos computed for the near-Earth and main belt asteroids (MBAs) observed by the Near-Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (NEOWISE) spacecraft during the sixth and seventh years of its Reactivation mission. These diameters and albedos are calculated from fitting thermal models to NEOWISE observations of 199 near-Earth objects (NEOs) and 5851 MBAs detected during the sixth year of the survey and 175 NEOs and 5861 MBAs from the seventh year. Compari…

  DOI

• Near-discovery Observations of Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS with the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility

  The Astrophysical Journal Letters · 2025-09-09 · 21 citations

  articleOpen access

  Abstract Interstellar objects are comets and asteroids that formed around other stars but were ejected before they could accrete into exoplanets. They therefore represent a rare opportunity to compare the the building blocks of planets in the solar system to those in other stellar systems. The third interstellar object, 3I/ATLAS, is the newest, brightest, potentially largest, and fastest member of this population. We report observations of 3I/ATLAS taken on 2025 July 3 and 4 with the NASA Infrar…

  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• J. Masiero

  Infrared Processing and Analysis Center

  268 shared

• R. M. Cutri

  246 shared

• T. Grav

  236 shared

• E. L. Wright

  164 shared

• K. J. Meech

  152 shared

• Y. R. Fernández

  149 shared

• Amy Mainzer

  148 shared

• E. Kramer

  147 shared

Labs

• James M. Bauer LaboratoryPI

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