CNN —When NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test spacecraft intentionally slammed into the asteroid Dimorphos in September 2022, the impact may have caused “global deformation” of the space rock, according to new research.
Dimorphos is a moonlet asteroid that orbits a larger parent asteroid known as Didymos.
The DART mission ended upon impact, but prior to colliding with Dimorphos, the spacecraft transmitted an incredibly detailed view of the little asteroid’s boulder-covered surface that is helping researchers learn more about how the space rock formed.
Rather than forming a simple crater on Dimorphos, the DART impact reshaped the entire asteroid, the results have suggested.
Recreating the DART impactA team of researchers modeled the impact using the Bern smoothed-particle hydrodynamics shock physics code to achieve their results.
Persons:
Dimorphos, It’s, ”, Dr, Sabina Raducan, Japan’s, ” Raducan, Martin Jutzi, Hera, Raducan, Sir Brian May, Claudia Manzoni
Organizations:
CNN, DART, Dimorphos, University of Bern’s Physics
Locations:
Italian, Dimorphos, Bern, Switzerland