Close approach of (65803) Didymos

[PMSchu]

CNEOS predicts that this NEO will make a close approach on 2022 Oct 4 09:48±<00:01 UT at a distance of 0.07123 AU. H=18.2, 'Rarity'=1, Condition Code=0. It's ~0.78 km across.

ST4v predicts that this NEO will reach a peak brightness of 14.7 magnitude from Sep 22-29 at 0.08-0.07 AU distance moving at ~5.4"/min. At close approach the motion will increase to 6.6"/min.

Here's an Interactive Atlas chart showing the predicted path from August 28 to October 17: [attachment=2481]

The position ephemeris using MPC's elements for 2022 Aug 28 0000 UT for Columbus, Ohio is attached below. This object is better observed from the southern hemisphere.

This NEO is the target of NASA's DART mission to deflect an asteroid, Didymos's moon, Dimorphos, by impacting it with a spacecraft.
NASA's asteroid-deflecting test mission is just 1 month away from impact | Space

Good hunting,

Phil S.

[bigmasterdrago]

Thanks for the heads up.

[PMSchu]

Here's an update on the DART mission:
NASA’s DART Confirmed on Target To Impact Asteroid Dimorphos (scitechdaily.com)

Phil S.

[PMSchu]

Here's more info about NASA's DART mission that's scheduled for tomorrow evening:

NASA's DART asteroid crash is a rare opportunity for scientists | Space

Here's more about DART:

NASA's DART asteroid-impact mission will be a key test of planetary defense | Space

Phil S.

[PMSchu]

NASA's DART mission successfuly impacted Dimorphos last night. I missed the live event, but the replay was still amazing. The MP kept growing larger & more detailed until Loss of Signal at impact. They said that the last full frame image was taken at a distance of 4 miles from Dimorphos 1 sec before impact. The last partial frame looked to be ~10% complete.

Phil S.

[PMSchu]

NASA's DART mission successfully reduced the orbital period of Dimorphos around Didymos from 11 hours 55 minutes to 11 hours 23 minutes. This is the first time that humans have altered the motion of a celestial object.

NASA: DART mission successfully changed motion of asteroid Dimorphos | CNN

Hooray for us!

Phil S.

[PMSchu]

Here's the latest on NASA's DART mission:

What DART scientists have learned about asteroid Didymos so far | Space

It doesn't add much.

Phil S.

[PMSchu]

Here's another update about the DART mission:

Here's what we've learned from NASA's DART asteroid-slamming mission | Space

Phil S.

[PMSchu]

Here's another article about NASA's DART Mission to impact the satellite of Didymos, Dimorphos:

'Swarm of boulders' in space shows the gory aftermath of NASA's asteroid-smashing DART mission | Live Science

The impact ejected >37 meter-sized rocks from Dimorphos that are moving away from the MP at ~0.8 km/hr. They're estimated to represent 0.1% of Dimorphos' total mass.

Phil S.

[bigmasterdrago]

Maybe an Armageddon approach is not such a good idea. It will be interesting to track their new orbit.