Jian-Yang Li Senior Research Associate Planetary Science Institute jyli @psi.edu

Research Interests:

• Photometry of asteroids and cometary nuclei
• The physical properties of cometary nuclei
• Composition and evolution of dwarf planets and large asteroids
• Connection between comets and asteroids

Dr. Li is interested in the properties and evolution of dwarf planets, asteroids, and comets. His expertise is in photometric analysis, especially from high-resolution data obtained from the ground and returned by spacecraft. He is one of the first few astronomers who applied disk-resolved photometric analysis to cometary nuclei, and found possible connections between the photometric properties and cometary activities. Dr. Li has been actively involved in Deep Impact and Dawn missions. The surface albedo and compositional maps of Ceres and Vesta generated by Dr. Li are essential for the planning of Dawn mission.

Asteroid 21496 (1998 JQ2) is named in honor of Dr. Li.

See Dr. Li's CV.