In addition, it will shed light on on the asteroid’s surface properties and internal structure. Mapping the shape of this crater will provide unique information to validate the numerical impact models necessary to design asteroid deflection missions in future. This measurement has a margin of uncertainty of approximately plus or minus two minutes.ĭART’s collision has also been modelled to have left a sizeable (20 m diameter scale) crater on Dimorphos’s surface. Since DART’s intentional 61 km per second collision with Dimorphos on 26 September, astronomers have confirmed the spacecraft’s impact altered Dimorphos’ orbit around Didymos by 32 minutes, shortening the 11 hour and 55-minute orbit to 11 hours and 23 minutes. Prior to DART’s impact, it took Dimorphos 11 hours and 55 minutes to orbit its larger parent asteroid, Didymos. Didymos is a binary asteroid the primary body has a diameter of around 780 m and a rotation period of 2.26 hours, whereas the Dimorphos secondary body has a diameter of around 160 m and rotates around the primary at a distance of around 1.2 km from the primary surface in around 12 hours.ĭimorphos was the subject of a kinetic impact by the NASA DART spacecraft on 26 September 2022.
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