ASTEROID DEFLECTION WORKED EVEN BETTER THAN EXPECTED

EMILY LAKDAWALLA

The Double Asteroid Redirect Test's (DART's) attempt to alter the path of an asteroid moon succeeded beyond expectations. Before the DART spacecraft slammed head-on into Dimorphos, the moon of asteroid 65803 Didymos, the moon orbited its primary in about 11 hours, 55 minutes. Post-impact, it now takes only 11 hours, 23 minutes (plus or minus 2 minutes) to complete its orbit. The large change — 32 minutes — was within the range predicted before the impact but at the top end of what was possible. The plumes of ejecta streaming out from the head-on impact likely contributed to the moon's recoil. For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction: By launching material toward Dimorphos’ direction of motion, Dimorphos’ momentum changed just as much in the opposite direction. The mission confirmed…

You're reading a preview of

Australian Sky & Telescope (Digital) - 1 Issue, March 2023

DiscountMags is a licensed distributor (not a publisher) of the above content and Publication through Zinio LLC. Accordingly, we have no editorial control over the Publications. Any opinions, advice, statements, services, offers or other information or content expressed or made available by third parties, including those made in Publications offered on our website, are those of the respective author(s) or publisher(s) and not of DiscountMags. DiscountMags does not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, truthfulness, or usefulness of all or any portion of any publication or any services or offers made by third parties, nor will we be liable for any loss or damage caused by your reliance on information contained in any Publication, or your use of services offered, or your acceptance of any offers made through the Service or the Publications. For content removal requests, please contact Zinio.