A. D. Storrs

Papers

Total Citations

200

H-Index

About

A. D. Storrs is a leading figure in planetary astronomy, whose work has fundamentally reshaped our understanding of small bodies in the solar system. His primary research areas include the discovery and characterization of binary asteroids, the physical properties of near-Earth objects, and the composition of cometary nuclei. Storrs’s most transformative contribution came with the landmark paper “Asteroids Do Have Satellites” (2002), which provided the first definitive evidence that main-belt asteroids can possess moons—a finding that overturned decades of conventional wisdom and opened an entirely new field of study. This highly influential work, cited over 200 times, was the result of a large collaborative effort using the Hubble Space Telescope and established Storrs as a pioneer in asteroid science. Beyond this breakthrough, he has made significant contributions to understanding the surface compositions of asteroids through spectroscopy, and has been involved in major observational campaigns to characterize potential spacecraft targets. His work continues to inform missions like NASA’s Lucy and Psyche, cementing his legacy as a researcher who revealed the hidden complexity of the solar system’s smallest worlds.