Ejecta Evolution Following a Planned Impact into an Asteroid: The First Five Weeks
The impact of the DART spacecraft into Dimorphos, moon of the asteroid Didymos, changed Dimorphos' orbit substantially, largely from the ejection of material. We present results from twelve Earth-based facilities involved in a world-wide campaign to monitor the brightness and morphology of the...
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Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
18.10.2023
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Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | The impact of the DART spacecraft into Dimorphos, moon of the asteroid
Didymos, changed Dimorphos' orbit substantially, largely from the ejection of
material. We present results from twelve Earth-based facilities involved in a
world-wide campaign to monitor the brightness and morphology of the ejecta in
the first 35 days after impact. After an initial brightening of ~1.4
magnitudes, we find consistent dimming rates of 0.11-0.12 magnitudes/day in the
first week, and 0.08-0.09 magnitudes/day over the entire study period. The
system returned to its pre-impact brightness 24.3-25.3 days after impact
through the primary ejecta tail remained. The dimming paused briefly eight days
after impact, near in time to the appearance of the second tail. This was
likely due to a secondary release of material after re-impact of a boulder
released in the initial impact, through movement of the primary ejecta through
the aperture likely played a role. |
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DOI: | 10.48550/arxiv.2310.12089 |