Results from the NEOROCKS rapid-response campaign of March–May 2022

Near-Earth Objects (NEOs) can pose a significant threat to Earth, with the potential to cause material damage or human casualties. As a result, planetary defense has become increasingly important, and early characterization of these objects is essential for developing possible mitigation strategies. Within this context, the NEOROCKS project (funded by the EU Horizon 2020 program) implemented a rapid-response experiment aimed at evaluating how quickly and efficiently the NEO risk assessment chain, from discovery to physical characterization, can be completed using existing European infrastructures and expertise in space surveillance and astronomical observations. We present results from the observations conducted between March and May 2022. Two strategies were used to select targets: a dedicated campaign focusing on newly discovered NEOs and a “blind” experiment targeting previously known objects. Observations were performed using photometric and spectroscopic techniques. Among the 17 objects initially flagged with potential impact alerts, seven were successfully observed : 2021 SR41, 2021 VM25, 2022 DC5, 2022 GJ2, 2022 GY2, 2022 GC1, and 2022 GS. From these observations, we derived key physical and compositional parameters relevant to planetary defense, including diameters, spin periods, absolute magnitudes, color indices, and taxonomic classifications. Despite unfavorable weather conditions limiting observations, this experiment highlights the importance of expanding telescope networks capable of performing rapid astrometric and physical characterization of potentially hazardous NEOs.