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American Astronomical Society, Astrophysical Journal Letters, 1(959), p. L12, 2023

DOI: 10.3847/2041-8213/ad0fdd

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Ejecta Evolution Following a Planned Impact into an Asteroid: The First Five Weeks

Journal article published in 2023 by Theodore Kareta ORCID, Cristina Thomas ORCID, Jian-Yang Li ORCID, Matthew M. Knight ORCID, Nicholas Moskovitz ORCID, Agata Rożek ORCID, Michele T. Bannister ORCID, Simone Ieva ORCID, Colin Snodgrass ORCID, Petr Pravec ORCID, Eileen V. Ryan, William H. Ryan, Eugene G. Fahnestock ORCID, Andrew S. Rivkin ORCID, Nancy Chabot ORCID and other authors.
This paper is made freely available by the publisher.
This paper is made freely available by the publisher.

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Data provided by SHERPA/RoMEO

Abstract

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.