Research results have shown that the asteroid Dimorphos, which was physically struck by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) through the DART mission, was transformed completely different from its original form.
A research team from the University of Bern in Switzerland recently published an investigation report suggesting the possibility that the shape of Dimorphos, where NASA’s small spacecraft ‘Dart’ collided, was greatly deformed like an octopus.
The research team came to this conclusion as a result of several simulations of the Dart mission. The research team assumed that the dart’s collision did not create a large crater on Dimorphos, and that stone fragments rose in a cone shape and covered the entire asteroid.
NASA carried out a precision strike on the asteroid Didymos’ satellite Dimorphos with the Dart spacecraft in September 2022. <사진=NASA 공식 홈페이지>
NASA’s Dart mission was planned to find out whether it was possible to hit an asteroid and change its orbit with a spacecraft of the same name, flying at about 6.1 km per second. It was an experiment to investigate the possibility of a planetary defense program that protects humanity by randomly changing the path of an asteroid that has the potential to collide with Earth.
The target, Dimorphos, is a satellite orbiting the asteroid Didymos. The binary asteroids Didymos and Dimorphos were once recognized as potentially dangerous, with the possibility of colliding with Earth. The ‘Dart’ spacecraft launched by NASA collided with Dimorphos in September 2022 as scheduled, and the orbital period of the hit asteroid was shortened from 11 hours 55 minutes to 11 hours 23 minutes.
The University of Bern’s research team has continued to track Dimorphos since the success of the Dart mission. The research team used a fluid dynamics computer model to guess how the shape of Dimorphus would have changed after the dart collided.
A screen simulating what happened to the surface of Dimorphos after the Dart spacecraft hit. <사진=베른대학교 공식 홈페이지>
As a result, the research team determined that 1% of Dimorphos’ total mass was scattered into space, and no large craters were formed on the surface. It also occurred to me that about 8% of the rocks that make up the Earth’s surface may have bounced and turned into an octopus.
Professor Raducan, a planetary scientist at the University of Bern who participated in the investigation, said, “The stone fragments thrown by the ‘dart’ impact would have spread into a 160° cone,” and added, “Dimorphos, which is only 163 meters in size, is capable of using both gravity and the force of matter to come together. “Because they are weak, the stone fragments appear to have continued to expand after the collision,” he said.
He added, “As the impact was applied to one side of Dimorphus, which seemed to be made up of numerous stone pieces, the stone pieces poured out into space due to the force. According to the simulation, Dimorphus would have been transformed into an octopus-like shape.”
Dimorphos simulation screen immediately after the dart collision. The rock fragments from the earth’s surface that flew up from the impact spread out at a 160° angle and took on an octopus-like shape. <사진=베른대학교 공식 홈페이지>
The academic community evaluated that this discovery provides insight into the characteristics of similar-sized asteroid binaries and further provides a clue to understanding the formation and evolution history of the solar system.
In fact, NASA, which executed the ‘Dart’ mission, as well as the European Space Agency (ESA) and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), plan to find out the status of Dimorphos after the strike through various missions. Scholars believe that through this, they will be able to learn about the evolution history of asteroids.
Reporter Jeong Ian anglee@sputnik.kr
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