NASA's DART mission unveils groundbreaking discoveries about the age and formation of the binary asteroid system it targeted.
In 2022, NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test mission achieved its goal of redirecting an asteroid’s course, ultimately unveiling some unforeseen discoveries. In studying data collected from NASA’s DART mission, the mission’s science team has discovered new information on the origins of the target binary asteroid system after intentionally colliding a spacecraft with the asteroid moonlet Dimorphos in 2022.
In five recently published papers in Nature Communications, the team explored the geology of the binary asteroid system. They examined moonlet Dimorphos and parent asteroid Didymos to characterize its origin and evolution and constrain its physical characteristics. “These findings give us new insights into the ways that asteroids can change over time,” said Thomas Statler, lead scientist for Solar System Small Bodies at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “This is important not just for understanding the near-Earth objects that are the focus of planetary defense, but also for our ability to read the history of our Solar System from these remnants of planet formation. This is just part of the wealth of new knowledge we’ve gained from DART.”Olivier Barnouin and Ronald-Louis Ballouz from Johns Hopkins APL led a study analyzing asteroid geology to conclude their surface materials and interior properties. The team analyzed the topography of the smaller asteroid Dimorphos, noting varying sizes of boulders in images captured by DART.at lower and rockier at higher elevations, with more craters than Dimorphos. The authors believe Dimorphos likely broke off from Didymos in a mass-shedding event. Natural processes can speed up the rotation of small asteroids, and there is increasing evidence that these processes might reshape these bodies or even cause material to be thrown off their surfaces. Analysis indicated that both Didymos and Dimorphos have weak surface characteristics, leading the team to propose that Didymos has a surface age 40–130 times greater than Dimorphos. The former is estimated to be 12.5 million years old, while the latter is less than 300,000 years old. Dimorphos’s low surface strength likely contributed to DART’s significant impact on its orbit. “The images and data that DART collected at the Didymos system provided a unique opportunity for a close-up geological look of a near-Earth asteroid binary system,” said Barnouin. “From these images alone, we were able to infer a great deal of information on geophysical properties of both Didymos and Dimorphos and expand our understanding on the formation of these two asteroids. We also better understand why DART was so effective in moving Dimorphos.”Maurizio Pajola and co-authors from the National Institute for Astrophysics in Rome led a study comparing the shapes, sizes, and distribution patterns of boulders on the surfaces of two asteroids.That conclusion strengthens the current theory that some binary asteroid systems form from discarded remnants of a larger primary asteroid coming together to create a new asteroid moonlet. Alice Lucchetti and colleagues at INAF found that thermal fatigue could quickly break up boulders on the surface of Dimorphos, altering its physical characteristics more rapidly than previously thought. A study by students Jeanne Bigot and Pauline Lombardo, supervised by researcher Naomi Murdoch of ISAE-SUPAERO in Toulouse, France, found that Didymos’ bearing capacity is at least 1,000 times lower than that of dry sand on Earth or lunar soil. Colas Robin and ISAE-SUPAERO colleagues analyzed surface boulders on Dimorphos and compared them with rubble pile asteroids like Itokawa, Ryugu, and Bennu. Researchers found that the boulders shared similar characteristics, indicating a common formation and evolution. The elongated shape of the boulders around the DART impact site suggests they were likely formed through impact processing. These new findings provide a more comprehensive overview of the Didymos system’s origins and contribute to our understanding of the formation of such planetary bodies.Kapil Kajal is an award-winning journalist with a diverse portfolio spanning defense, politics, technology, crime, environment, human rights, and foreign policy. His work has been featured in publications such as Janes, National Geographic, Al Jazeera, Rest of World, Mongabay, and Nikkei. Kapil holds a dual bachelor's degree in Electrical, Electronics, and Communication Engineering and a master’s diploma in journalism from the Institute of Journalism and New Media in Bangalore.
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