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Orbital period change of Dimorphos due to the DART kinetic impact

Author

Listed:
  • Cristina A. Thomas

    (Northern Arizona University)

  • Shantanu P. Naidu

    (California Institute of Technology)

  • Peter Scheirich

    (Astronomical Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences)

  • Nicholas A. Moskovitz

    (Lowell Observatory)

  • Petr Pravec

    (Astronomical Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences)

  • Steven R. Chesley

    (California Institute of Technology)

  • Andrew S. Rivkin

    (Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory)

  • David J. Osip

    (Las Campanas Observatory)

  • Tim A. Lister

    (Las Cumbres Observatory)

  • Lance A. M. Benner

    (California Institute of Technology)

  • Marina Brozović

    (California Institute of Technology)

  • Carlos Contreras

    (Las Campanas Observatory)

  • Nidia Morrell

    (Las Campanas Observatory)

  • Agata Rożek

    (University of Edinburgh, Royal Observatory)

  • Peter Kušnirák

    (Astronomical Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences)

  • Kamil Hornoch

    (Astronomical Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences)

  • Declan Mages

    (California Institute of Technology)

  • Patrick A. Taylor

    (National Radio Astronomy Observatory)

  • Andrew D. Seymour

    (Green Bank Observatory)

  • Colin Snodgrass

    (University of Edinburgh, Royal Observatory)

  • Uffe G. Jørgensen

    (University of Copenhagen)

  • Martin Dominik

    (University of St Andrews)

  • Brian Skiff

    (Lowell Observatory)

  • Tom Polakis

    (Lowell Observatory)

  • Matthew M. Knight

    (United States Naval Academy)

  • Tony L. Farnham

    (University of Maryland)

  • Jon D. Giorgini

    (California Institute of Technology)

  • Brian Rush

    (California Institute of Technology)

  • Julie Bellerose

    (California Institute of Technology)

  • Pedro Salas

    (Green Bank Observatory)

  • William P. Armentrout

    (Green Bank Observatory)

  • Galen Watts

    (Green Bank Observatory)

  • Michael W. Busch

    (SETI Institute)

  • Joseph Chatelain

    (Las Cumbres Observatory)

  • Edward Gomez

    (Las Cumbres Observatory
    Cardiff University)

  • Sarah Greenstreet

    (University of Washington)

  • Liz Phillips

    (Las Cumbres Observatory
    University of California, Santa Barbara)

  • Mariangela Bonavita

    (University of Edinburgh, Royal Observatory)

  • Martin J. Burgdorf

    (Universität Hamburg)

  • Elahe Khalouei

    (Seoul National University)

  • Penélope Longa-Peña

    (Universidad de Antofagasta)

  • Markus Rabus

    (Universidad Católica de la Santísima Concepción)

  • Sedighe Sajadian

    (Isfahan University of Technology)

  • Nancy L. Chabot

    (Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory)

  • Andrew F. Cheng

    (Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory)

  • William H. Ryan

    (New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology)

  • Eileen V. Ryan

    (New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology)

  • Carrie E. Holt

    (University of Maryland)

  • Harrison F. Agrusa

    (University of Maryland)

Abstract

The Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) spacecraft successfully performed the first test of a kinetic impactor for asteroid deflection by impacting Dimorphos, the secondary of near-Earth binary asteroid (65803) Didymos, and changing the orbital period of Dimorphos. A change in orbital period of approximately 7 min was expected if the incident momentum from the DART spacecraft was directly transferred to the asteroid target in a perfectly inelastic collision1, but studies of the probable impact conditions and asteroid properties indicated that a considerable momentum enhancement (β) was possible2,3. In the years before impact, we used lightcurve observations to accurately determine the pre-impact orbit parameters of Dimorphos with respect to Didymos4–6. Here we report the change in the orbital period of Dimorphos as a result of the DART kinetic impact to be −33.0 ± 1.0 (3σ) min. Using new Earth-based lightcurve and radar observations, two independent approaches determined identical values for the change in the orbital period. This large orbit period change suggests that ejecta contributed a substantial amount of momentum to the asteroid beyond what the DART spacecraft carried.

Suggested Citation

  • Cristina A. Thomas & Shantanu P. Naidu & Peter Scheirich & Nicholas A. Moskovitz & Petr Pravec & Steven R. Chesley & Andrew S. Rivkin & David J. Osip & Tim A. Lister & Lance A. M. Benner & Marina Broz, 2023. "Orbital period change of Dimorphos due to the DART kinetic impact," Nature, Nature, vol. 616(7957), pages 448-451, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:616:y:2023:i:7957:d:10.1038_s41586-023-05805-2
    DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-05805-2
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    Cited by:

    1. Elisabetta Dotto & Angelo Zinzi, 2023. "Impact observations of asteroid Dimorphos via Light Italian CubeSat for imaging of asteroids (LICIACube)," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-3, December.
    2. Adriano Campo Bagatin & Aldo Dell’Oro & Laura M. Parro & Paula G. Benavidez & Seth Jacobson & Alice Lucchetti & Francesco Marzari & Patrick Michel & Maurizio Pajola & Jean-Baptiste Vincent, 2024. "Recent collisional history of (65803) Didymos," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-9, December.
    3. Marco Cinelli, 2024. "Mitigation of the Collision Risk of a Virtual Impactor Based on the 2011 AG5 Asteroid Using a Kinetic Impactor," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-20, January.

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