Light Curves and Colors of the Ejecta from Dimorphos after the DART Impact

Ariel Graykowski; Ryan A. Lambert; Franck Marchis; Dorian Cazeneuve; Paul A. Dalba; Thomas M. Esposito; Daniel O'Conner Peluso; Lauren A. Sgro; Guillaume Blaclard; Antonin Borot; Arnaud Malvache; Laurent Marfisi; Tyler M. Powell; Patrice Huet; Matthieu Limagne; Bruno Payet; Colin Clarke; Susan Murabana; Daniel Chu Owen; Ronald Wasilwa; Keiichi Fukui; Tateki Goto; Bruno Guillet; Patrick Huth; Satoshi Ishiyama; Ryuichi Kukita; Mike Mitchell; Michael Primm; Justus Randolph; Darren A. Rivett; Matthew Ryno; Masao Shimizu; Jean-Pierre Toullec; Stefan Will; Wai-Chun Yue; Michael Camilleri; Kathy Graykowski; Ron Janetzke; Des Janke; Scott Kardel; Margaret Loose; John W. Pickering; Barton A. Smith; Ian M. Transom

doi:10.1038/s41586-023-05852-9

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arXiv · 2303.05548

Light Curves and Colors of the Ejecta from Dimorphos after the DART Impact

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Abstract

On 26 September 2022 the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) spacecraft impacted Dimorphos, a satellite of the asteroid 65803 Didymos. Because it is a binary system, it is possible to determine how much the orbit of the satellite changed, as part of a test of what is necessary to deflect an asteroid that might threaten Earth with an impact. In nominal cases, pre-impact predictions of the orbital period reduction ranged from ~8.8 - 17.2 minutes. Here we report optical observations of Dimorphos before, during and after the impact, from a network of citizen science telescopes across the world. We find a maximum brightening of 2.29 $\pm$ 0.14 mag upon impact. Didymos fades back to its pre-impact brightness over the course of 23.7 $\pm$ 0.7 days. We estimate lower limits on the mass contained in the ejecta, which was 0.3 - 0.5% Dimorphos' mass depending on the dust size. We also observe a reddening of the ejecta upon impact.

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Ariel Graykowski, Ryan A. Lambert, Franck Marchis, Dorian Cazeneuve, Paul A. Dalba, Thomas M. Esposito, Daniel O'Conner Peluso, Lauren A. Sgro, Guillaume Blaclard, Antonin Borot, Arnaud Malvache, Laurent Marfisi, Tyler M. Powell, Patrice Huet, Matthieu Limagne, Bruno Payet, Colin Clarke, Susan Murabana, Daniel Chu Owen, Ronald Wasilwa, Keiichi Fukui, Tateki Goto, Bruno Guillet, Patrick Huth, Satoshi Ishiyama, Ryuichi Kukita, Mike Mitchell, Michael Primm, Justus Randolph, Darren A. Rivett, Matthew Ryno, Masao Shimizu, Jean-Pierre Toullec, Stefan Will, Wai-Chun Yue, Michael Camilleri, Kathy Graykowski, Ron Janetzke, Des Janke, Scott Kardel, Margaret Loose, John W. Pickering, Barton A. Smith, Ian M. Transom. 2023-03-09. Light Curves and Colors of the Ejecta from Dimorphos after the DART Impact. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-023-05852-9

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