The Astrophysical Journal Letters (Jan 2023)
Ejecta Evolution Following a Planned Impact into an Asteroid: The First Five Weeks
- Theodore Kareta,
- Cristina Thomas,
- Jian-Yang Li,
- Matthew M. Knight,
- Nicholas Moskovitz,
- Agata Rożek,
- Michele T. Bannister,
- Simone Ieva,
- Colin Snodgrass,
- Petr Pravec,
- Eileen V. Ryan,
- William H. Ryan,
- Eugene G. Fahnestock,
- Andrew S. Rivkin,
- Nancy Chabot,
- Alan Fitzsimmons,
- David Osip,
- Tim Lister,
- Gal Sarid,
- Masatoshi Hirabayashi,
- Tony Farnham,
- Gonzalo Tancredi,
- Patrick Michel,
- Richard Wainscoat,
- Rob Weryk,
- Bonnie Burrati,
- Jana Pittichová,
- Ryan Ridden-Harper,
- Nicole J. Tan,
- Paul Tristram,
- Tyler Brown,
- Mariangela Bonavita,
- Martin Burgdorf,
- Elahe Khalouei,
- Penelope Longa,
- Markus Rabus,
- Sedighe Sajadian,
- Uffe Graae Jorgensen,
- Martin Dominik,
- Jean-Baptiste Kikwaya,
- Elena Mazzotta Epifani,
- Elisabetta Dotto,
- Prasanna Deshapriya,
- Pedro Hasselmann,
- Massimo Dall’Ora,
- Lyu Abe,
- Tristan Guillot,
- Djamel Mékarnia,
- Abdelkrim Agabi,
- Philippe Bendjoya,
- Olga Suarez,
- Amaury Triaud,
- Thomas Gasparetto,
- Maximillian N. Günther,
- Michael Kueppers,
- Bruno Merin,
- Joseph Chatelain,
- Edward Gomez,
- Helen Usher,
- Cai Stoddard-Jones,
- Matthew Bartnik,
- Michael Bellaver,
- Brenna Chetan,
- Emma Dugan,
- Tori Fallon,
- Jeremy Fedewa,
- Caitlyn Gerhard,
- Seth A. Jacobson,
- Shane Painter,
- David-Michael Peterson,
- Joseph E. Rodriguez,
- Cody Smith,
- Kirill V. Sokolovsky,
- Hannah Sullivan,
- Kate Townley,
- Sarah Watson,
- Levi Webb,
- Josep M. Trigo-Rodríguez,
- Josep M. Llenas,
- Ignacio Pérez-García,
- A. J. Castro-Tirado,
- Jean-Baptiste Vincent,
- Alessandra Migliorini,
- Monica Lazzarin,
- Fiorangela La Forgia,
- Fabio Ferrari,
- Tom Polakis,
- Brian Skiff
Affiliations
- Theodore Kareta
- ORCiD
- Lowell Observatory , Flagstaff, AZ 86001, USA
- Cristina Thomas
- ORCiD
- Astronomy and Planetary Science, Northern Arizona University , Flagstaff, AZ 86011-6010, USA
- Jian-Yang Li
- ORCiD
- Planetary Science Institute , Tucson, AZ 85719, USA
- Matthew M. Knight
- ORCiD
- Physics Department, United States Naval Academy , 572C Holloway Rd, Annapolis, MD 21402, USA
- Nicholas Moskovitz
- ORCiD
- Lowell Observatory , Flagstaff, AZ 86001, USA
- Agata Rożek
- ORCiD
- Institute for Astronomy, University of Edinburgh , Royal Observatory, Edinburgh EH9 3HJ, UK
- Michele T. Bannister
- ORCiD
- University of Canterbury , Christchurch 8041, New Zealand
- Simone Ieva
- ORCiD
- INAF —Osservatorio Astronomico di Roma, 00136 Roma RM, Italy
- Colin Snodgrass
- ORCiD
- Institute for Astronomy, University of Edinburgh , Royal Observatory, Edinburgh EH9 3HJ, UK
- Petr Pravec
- ORCiD
- Astronomical Institute, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic , 251 65 Ondřejov, Czech Republic
- Eileen V. Ryan
- New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology/Magdalena Ridge Observatory , 801 Leroy Place, Socorro, NM 87801, USA
- William H. Ryan
- New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology/Magdalena Ridge Observatory , 801 Leroy Place, Socorro, NM 87801, USA
- Eugene G. Fahnestock
- ORCiD
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology , Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
- Andrew S. Rivkin
- ORCiD
- Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory , Laurel, MD 20723, USA
- Nancy Chabot
- ORCiD
- Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory , Laurel, MD 20723, USA
- Alan Fitzsimmons
- ORCiD
- Queen’s University Belfast , Belfast BT7 1NN, UK
- David Osip
- Las Cumbres Observatory , Goleta, CA 93117, USA
- Tim Lister
- ORCiD
- Las Cumbres Observatory , Goleta, CA 93117, USA
- Gal Sarid
- ORCiD
- SETI Institute , Mountain View, CA 94043, USA
- Masatoshi Hirabayashi
- ORCiD
- Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology , 620 Cherry Street, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA
- Tony Farnham
- ORCiD
- University of Maryland , College Park, MD 20742, USA
- Gonzalo Tancredi
- ORCiD
- Depto. Astronomía , Udelar, 11400 Montevideo, Uruguay
- Patrick Michel
- ORCiD
- Université Côte d’Azur, Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur , CNRS, Laboratoire Lagrange, Nice, CS 3422906304, France; The University of Tokyo , Department of Systems Innovation, School of Engineering, Tokyo, Japan
- Richard Wainscoat
- ORCiD
- University of Hawai’i , 2680 Woodlawn Drive, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA
- Rob Weryk
- ORCiD
- Physics and Astronomy, University of Western Ontario , 1151 Richmond Street, London ON, N6A 3K7, Canada
- Bonnie Burrati
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology , Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
- Jana Pittichová
- ORCiD
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology , Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
- Ryan Ridden-Harper
- ORCiD
- University of Canterbury , Christchurch 8041, New Zealand
- Nicole J. Tan
- ORCiD
- University of Canterbury , Christchurch 8041, New Zealand
- Paul Tristram
- University of Canterbury Mt. John Observatory , P.O. Box 56, Lake Tekapo 8770, New Zealand
- Tyler Brown
- University of Canterbury , Christchurch 8041, New Zealand
- Mariangela Bonavita
- ORCiD
- Institute for Astronomy, University of Edinburgh , Royal Observatory, Edinburgh EH9 3HJ, UK
- Martin Burgdorf
- ORCiD
- Universität Hamburg , 20148 Hamburg, Germany
- Elahe Khalouei
- ORCiD
- Seoul National University , Gwanak-gu, Seoul, Republic of Korea
- Penelope Longa
- ORCiD
- Universidad de Antofagasta , 02800, Antofagasta, Chile
- Markus Rabus
- ORCiD
- Universidad Católica de la Santísima Concepción , Concepción, Bío Bío, Chile
- Sedighe Sajadian
- ORCiD
- Isfahan University of Technology , Daneshgah e Sanati Hwy, PG9G+39R, Iran
- Uffe Graae Jorgensen
- ORCiD
- University of Copenhagen , 1172 Copenhagen, Denmark
- Martin Dominik
- ORCiD
- University of St. Andrews , St Andrews KY16 9AJ, UK
- Jean-Baptiste Kikwaya
- Vatican Observatory , 00041 Albano laziale RM, Italy
- Elena Mazzotta Epifani
- INAF —Osservatorio Astronomico di Roma, 00136 Roma RM, Italy
- Elisabetta Dotto
- INAF —Osservatorio Astronomico di Roma, 00136 Roma RM, Italy
- Prasanna Deshapriya
- INAF —Osservatorio Astronomico di Roma, 00136 Roma RM, Italy
- Pedro Hasselmann
- ORCiD
- INAF —Osservatorio Astronomico di Roma, 00136 Roma RM, Italy
- Massimo Dall’Ora
- INAF— Osservatorio Astronomico di Capodimonte , 80131 Napoli NA, Italy
- Lyu Abe
- Université Côte d’Azur, Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur , CNRS, Laboratoire Lagrange, Nice, CS 3422906304, France
- Tristan Guillot
- ORCiD
- Université Côte d’Azur, Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur , CNRS, Laboratoire Lagrange, Nice, CS 3422906304, France
- Djamel Mékarnia
- ORCiD
- Université Côte d’Azur, Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur , CNRS, Laboratoire Lagrange, Nice, CS 3422906304, France
- Abdelkrim Agabi
- Université Côte d’Azur, Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur , CNRS, Laboratoire Lagrange, Nice, CS 3422906304, France
- Philippe Bendjoya
- ORCiD
- Université Côte d’Azur, Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur , CNRS, Laboratoire Lagrange, Nice, CS 3422906304, France
- Olga Suarez
- ORCiD
- Université Côte d’Azur, Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur , CNRS, Laboratoire Lagrange, Nice, CS 3422906304, France
- Amaury Triaud
- ORCiD
- University of Birmingham , Birmingham B15 2TT, UK
- Thomas Gasparetto
- INAF –Trieste, 34144 Trieste TS, Italy
- Maximillian N. Günther
- European Space Agency , 75012 Paris, France
- Michael Kueppers
- European Space Agency , 75012 Paris, France
- Bruno Merin
- ORCiD
- European Space Agency , 75012 Paris, France
- Joseph Chatelain
- ORCiD
- Las Cumbres Observatory , Goleta, CA 93117, USA
- Edward Gomez
- ORCiD
- Las Cumbres Observatory , Goleta, CA 93117, USA
- Helen Usher
- ORCiD
- Open University , Milton Keynes MK7 6AA, UK
- Cai Stoddard-Jones
- Cardiff University , Cardiff CF10 3AT, UK
- Matthew Bartnik
- Michigan State University , East Lansing, MI, USA
- Michael Bellaver
- Michigan State University , East Lansing, MI, USA
- Brenna Chetan
- Michigan State University , East Lansing, MI, USA
- Emma Dugan
- Michigan State University , East Lansing, MI, USA
- Tori Fallon
- Michigan State University , East Lansing, MI, USA
- Jeremy Fedewa
- Michigan State University , East Lansing, MI, USA
- Caitlyn Gerhard
- Michigan State University , East Lansing, MI, USA
- Seth A. Jacobson
- ORCiD
- Michigan State University , East Lansing, MI, USA
- Shane Painter
- Michigan State University , East Lansing, MI, USA
- David-Michael Peterson
- Michigan State University , East Lansing, MI, USA
- Joseph E. Rodriguez
- ORCiD
- Michigan State University , East Lansing, MI, USA
- Cody Smith
- Michigan State University , East Lansing, MI, USA
- Kirill V. Sokolovsky
- ORCiD
- Michigan State University , East Lansing, MI, USA
- Hannah Sullivan
- Michigan State University , East Lansing, MI, USA
- Kate Townley
- Michigan State University , East Lansing, MI, USA
- Sarah Watson
- Michigan State University , East Lansing, MI, USA
- Levi Webb
- Michigan State University , East Lansing, MI, USA
- Josep M. Trigo-Rodríguez
- Institute of Space Sciences (CSIC-IEEC) , E-08193 Cerdanyola del Vallés (Barcelona), Carrer de Can Magrans, s/n, Catalonia, Spain
- Josep M. Llenas
- Pujalt Observatory , SN, 08282 Pujalt, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
- Ignacio Pérez-García
- Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía , IAA-CSIC, 18008 Granada, Spain
- A. J. Castro-Tirado
- Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía , IAA-CSIC, 18008 Granada, Spain
- Jean-Baptiste Vincent
- DLR Institute of Planetary Research , 12489 Berlin, Germany
- Alessandra Migliorini
- INAF— Institute for Space Astrophysics and Planetology , 10025 Pino Torinese TO, Italy
- Monica Lazzarin
- Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia, Padova University , 35121 Padova PD, Italy
- Fiorangela La Forgia
- ORCiD
- Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia, Padova University , 35121 Padova PD, Italy
- Fabio Ferrari
- Politecnico di Milano , 20133 Milano MI, Italy
- Tom Polakis
- Lowell Observatory , Flagstaff, AZ 86001, USA
- Brian Skiff
- Lowell Observatory , Flagstaff, AZ 86001, USA
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/ad0fdd
- Journal volume & issue
-
Vol. 959,
no. 1
p. L12
Abstract
The impact of the Double Asteroid Redirection Test spacecraft into Dimorphos, moon of the asteroid Didymos, changed Dimorphos’s orbit substantially, largely from the ejection of material. We present results from 12 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 mag, we find consistent dimming rates of 0.11–0.12 mag day ^−1 in the first week, and 0.08–0.09 mag day ^−1 over the entire study period. The system returned to its pre-impact brightness 24.3–25.3 days after impact though 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, though movement of the primary ejecta through the aperture likely played a role.
Keywords
