Europlanet has announced the winners of its inaugural Career Medals, which honour outstanding contributions from planetary scientists at different stages of their careers. Benoit Carry, assistant astronomer at the Lagrange Laboratory of the Observatoire de la Côte d'Azur (OCA), has been awarded the Europlanet Mid-Career Medal for his work on characterising the internal structures and compositions of asteroids and planetary small bodies.
Shedding light on the early Solar System
Combining observational and theoretical approaches, Benoit Carry investigates the distribution and compositional diversity of small bodies in planetary systems. His interpretation of data from major space missions, such as Gaia and Euclid, has been pivotal in advancing our understanding of the formation of the asteroid belt and the evolution of the Solar System. His research has also enabled more precise asteroid mass determinations, revealing key properties of asteroid interiors and substantially improving the accuracy of threat assessments for potentially hazardous asteroids.
Contributing to planetary defence
Benoit Carry plays a leading role in international planetary defence efforts. As co-chair of the ESA HERA mission’s Working Group of the European Space Agency on ground-based observations of Didymos, the target of NASA’s DART mission, he is central to the planning and interpretation of asteroid deflection observations. These studies are crucial to developing future strategies for protecting Earth from space hazards.
Commitment to open science
Beyond his scientific achievements, Benoit Carry is deeply committed to open science. He has developed essential infrastructure for the planetary science community, including tools for the real-time classification of astronomical alerts and services providing comprehensive data on over one million asteroids and dwarf planets. This prestigious award recognises his major contributions to planetary science, planetary defence, and the advancement of open knowledge.