Orbital period change of Dimorphos due to the DART kinetic impact

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 Brozović; Carlos Contreras; Nidia Morrell; Agata Rożek; Peter Kušnirák; Kamil Hornoch; Declan Mages; Patrick A. Taylor; Andrew D. Seymour; Colin Snodgrass; Uffe G. Jørgensen; Martin Dominik; Brian Skiff; Tom Polakis; Matthew M. Knight; Tony L. Farnham; Jon D. Giorgini; Brian Rush; Julie Bellerose; Pedro Salas; William P. Armentrout; Galen Watts; Michael W. Busch; Joseph Chatelain; Edward Gomez; Sarah Greenstreet; Liz Phillips; Mariangela Bonavita; Martin J. Burgdorf; Elahe Khalouei; Penélope Longa-Peña; Markus Rabus; Sedighe Sajadian; Nancy L. Chabot; Andrew F. Cheng; William H. Ryan; Eileen V. Ryan; Carrie E. Holt; Harrison F. Agrusa

doi:10.1038/s41586-023-05805-2

Orbital period change of Dimorphos due to the DART kinetic impact

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 Brozović, Carlos Contreras, Nidia Morrell, Agata Rożek, Peter Kušnirák, Kamil Hornoch, Declan Mages, Patrick A. Taylor, Andrew D. Seymour, Colin SnodgrassUffe G. Jørgensen, Martin Dominik, Brian Skiff, Tom Polakis, Matthew M. Knight, Tony L. Farnham, Jon D. Giorgini, Brian Rush, Julie Bellerose, Pedro Salas, William P. Armentrout, Galen Watts, Michael W. Busch, Joseph Chatelain, Edward Gomez, Sarah Greenstreet, Liz Phillips, Mariangela Bonavita, Martin J. Burgdorf, Elahe Khalouei, Penélope Longa-Peña, Markus Rabus, Sedighe Sajadian, Nancy L. Chabot, Andrew F. Cheng, William H. Ryan, Eileen V. Ryan, Carrie E. Holt, Harrison F. Agrusa

Astronomy and Planetary Sciences

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

87 Scopus citations

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 possible^2,3. In the years before impact, we used lightcurve observations to accurately determine the pre-impact orbit parameters of Dimorphos with respect to Didymos^4–6. 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.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	448-451
Number of pages	4
Journal	Nature
Volume	616
Issue number	7957
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-023-05805-2
State	Published - Apr 20 2023

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Thomas, C. A., Naidu, S. P., Scheirich, P., Moskovitz, N. A., Pravec, P., Chesley, S. R., Rivkin, A. S., Osip, D. J., Lister, T. A., Benner, L. A. M., Brozović, M., Contreras, C., Morrell, N., Rożek, A., Kušnirák, P., Hornoch, K., Mages, D., Taylor, P. A., Seymour, A. D., ... Agrusa, H. F. (2023). Orbital period change of Dimorphos due to the DART kinetic impact. Nature, 616(7957), 448-451. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-023-05805-2

Thomas, CA, Naidu, SP, Scheirich, P, Moskovitz, NA, Pravec, P, Chesley, SR, Rivkin, AS, Osip, DJ, Lister, TA, Benner, LAM, Brozović, M, Contreras, C, Morrell, N, Rożek, A, Kušnirák, P, Hornoch, K, Mages, D, Taylor, PA, Seymour, AD, Snodgrass, C, Jørgensen, UG, Dominik, M, Skiff, B, Polakis, T, Knight, MM, Farnham, TL, Giorgini, JD, Rush, B, Bellerose, J, Salas, P, Armentrout, WP, Watts, G, Busch, MW, Chatelain, J, Gomez, E, Greenstreet, S, Phillips, L, Bonavita, M, Burgdorf, MJ, Khalouei, E, Longa-Peña, P, Rabus, M, Sajadian, S, Chabot, NL, Cheng, AF, Ryan, WH, Ryan, EV, Holt, CE & Agrusa, HF 2023, 'Orbital period change of Dimorphos due to the DART kinetic impact', Nature, vol. 616, no. 7957, pp. 448-451. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-023-05805-2

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title = "Orbital period change of Dimorphos due to the DART kinetic impact",

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.",

author = "Thomas, {Cristina A.} and Naidu, {Shantanu P.} and Peter Scheirich and Moskovitz, {Nicholas A.} and Petr Pravec and Chesley, {Steven R.} and Rivkin, {Andrew S.} and Osip, {David J.} and Lister, {Tim A.} and Benner, {Lance A.M.} and Marina Brozovi{\'c} and Carlos Contreras and Nidia Morrell and Agata Ro{\.z}ek and Peter Ku{\v s}nir{\'a}k and Kamil Hornoch and Declan Mages and Taylor, {Patrick A.} and Seymour, {Andrew D.} and Colin Snodgrass and J{\o}rgensen, {Uffe G.} and Martin Dominik and Brian Skiff and Tom Polakis and Knight, {Matthew M.} and Farnham, {Tony L.} and Giorgini, {Jon D.} and Brian Rush and Julie Bellerose and Pedro Salas and Armentrout, {William P.} and Galen Watts and Busch, {Michael W.} and Joseph Chatelain and Edward Gomez and Sarah Greenstreet and Liz Phillips and Mariangela Bonavita and Burgdorf, {Martin J.} and Elahe Khalouei and Pen{\'e}lope Longa-Pe{\~n}a and Markus Rabus and Sedighe Sajadian and Chabot, {Nancy L.} and Cheng, {Andrew F.} and Ryan, {William H.} and Ryan, {Eileen V.} and Holt, {Carrie E.} and Agrusa, {Harrison F.}",

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doi = "10.1038/s41586-023-05805-2",

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AU - Thomas, Cristina A.

AU - Naidu, Shantanu P.

AU - Scheirich, Peter

AU - Moskovitz, Nicholas A.

AU - Pravec, Petr

AU - Chesley, Steven R.

AU - Rivkin, Andrew S.

AU - Osip, David J.

AU - Lister, Tim A.

AU - Benner, Lance A.M.

AU - Brozović, Marina

AU - Contreras, Carlos

AU - Morrell, Nidia

AU - Rożek, Agata

AU - Kušnirák, Peter

AU - Hornoch, Kamil

AU - Mages, Declan

AU - Taylor, Patrick A.

AU - Seymour, Andrew D.

AU - Snodgrass, Colin

AU - Jørgensen, Uffe G.

AU - Dominik, Martin

AU - Skiff, Brian

AU - Polakis, Tom

AU - Knight, Matthew M.

AU - Farnham, Tony L.

AU - Giorgini, Jon D.

AU - Rush, Brian

AU - Bellerose, Julie

AU - Salas, Pedro

AU - Armentrout, William P.

AU - Watts, Galen

AU - Busch, Michael W.

AU - Chatelain, Joseph

AU - Gomez, Edward

AU - Greenstreet, Sarah

AU - Phillips, Liz

AU - Bonavita, Mariangela

AU - Burgdorf, Martin J.

AU - Khalouei, Elahe

AU - Longa-Peña, Penélope

AU - Rabus, Markus

AU - Sajadian, Sedighe

AU - Chabot, Nancy L.

AU - Cheng, Andrew F.

AU - Ryan, William H.

AU - Ryan, Eileen V.

AU - Holt, Carrie E.

AU - Agrusa, Harrison F.

PY - 2023/4/20

Y1 - 2023/4/20

N2 - 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.

AB - 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.

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Orbital period change of Dimorphos due to the DART kinetic impact

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