Speaker profile
Dr Ben Rider-Stokes
PhD
Available for booking
Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England
200 miles travel distance
Research Astronomer
Summary
I am an active researcher at the Open University investigating the mineralogical surfaces of asteroids and planets through the analysis of meteorites.
Full biography
My recent publications (2025) include searching for the origin of specific meteorite groups, entitled ‘Remnants of a lost Planetesimal: Searching for the Angrite parent body’ in Icarus: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.icarus.2024.116429. My most recent publication tests a major gap in planetary science knowledge, known as the ‘Missing Mantle Problem’ with the manuscript entitled ‘The mystery of the missing mantle problem and insights from spectroscopy’ in Icarus: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.icarus.2025.116506.
I am an enthusiastic researcher, who has been awarded based on presentations (Wiley Award; 2021) and has been invited to both public societies and international conferences. I am keen to broaden my outreach activities and presentations, along with meteorite handling.
Other major publications and news coverage have been surrounding constraining the formation of Jupiter through meteorites. Conversation articles accumulating 60,000 reads.
Affiliations
Lectures
Inferring the Mineralogy of Asteroids Through Meteorite Spectroscopy
Disseminating my current research on meteorite:asteroid spectroscopy.
Publications
Impact mixing among rocky planetesimals in the early Solar System from angrite oxygen isotopes
Discerning the formation timing of Jupiter through the investigation of meteorites.
The impact history and prolonged magmatism of the angrite parent body
Inferring the timing of planetary formation and planetary evolution through the investigation of meteorites.
Accessory mineral microstructure and chronology reveals no evidence for late heavy bombardment on the asteroid 4-Vesta
Testing major hypothesis in planetary science 'The Late Heavy Bombardment' through the investigation of meteorites.
Evidence against water delivery by impacts within 10 million years of planetesimal formation
Evaluating the origin of water in the inner Solar System through the investigation of ancient meteorites.
A reappraisal of the petrogenesis of Apollo 17 lunar dunites 72415-72417: Relics of the deep lunar mantle?
Discovering the mantle of the Moon, through the investigation of material returned from the Moon during Apollo 17.
Remnants of a lost Planetesimal: Searching for the Angrite parent body
Searching for the origin of meteorite groups through spectroscopy.
The mystery of the missing mantle problem and insights from spectroscopy
Testing a major gap in planetary science, searching for the lost mantles of planetary bodies through the investigation of meteorites.
