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7/15/2025, 3:04:58 AM
>>16724726
>Around 104 boulders were tracked in post impact pics, as they hurtled away from Dimorphos at 52 m/s. Their sizes varied, from 0.4 to 7.2 meters in diameter. Speeds of 2 of the fastest clumps were 340 m/s (1) & 240 m/s (2).
> "We saw that the boulders weren't scattered randomly in space. Instead, they were clustered in 2 pretty distinct groups, with an absence of material elsewhere, which means that something unknown is at work here."
> The largest debris cluster, containing about 70% of the measured objects, was ejected toward the south at high velocities and shallow angles to the surface. The team believes that the ejected boulders likely came from 2 large boulders on Dimorphos, called Atabaque & Bodhran, that were shattered by DART’s solar panels just before the main body of the spacecraft hit the surface. Evidence suggests that the southern cluster of ejected material is probably made up of fragments from the 6.6 meter wide boulder Atabaque.
>DART hit a surface that was rocky & full of large boulders, resulting in chaotic & filamentary structures in its ejecta patterns. 2nd author Jessica Sunshine, who also served as deputy principal investigator for the Deep Impact mission to comet Tempel 1, made this comparison between the 2 impact missions: “Deep Impact hit a surface that was essentially very small, uniform particles, so its ejecta was relatively smooth & continuous. And here, we see that DART hit a surface that was rocky & full of large boulders, resulting in chaotic & filamentary structures in its ejecta patterns. Comparing these 2 missions side-by-side gives us this insight into how different types of celestial bodies respond to impacts, which is crucial to ensuring that a planetary defense mission is successful.”
>Around 104 boulders were tracked in post impact pics, as they hurtled away from Dimorphos at 52 m/s. Their sizes varied, from 0.4 to 7.2 meters in diameter. Speeds of 2 of the fastest clumps were 340 m/s (1) & 240 m/s (2).
> "We saw that the boulders weren't scattered randomly in space. Instead, they were clustered in 2 pretty distinct groups, with an absence of material elsewhere, which means that something unknown is at work here."
> The largest debris cluster, containing about 70% of the measured objects, was ejected toward the south at high velocities and shallow angles to the surface. The team believes that the ejected boulders likely came from 2 large boulders on Dimorphos, called Atabaque & Bodhran, that were shattered by DART’s solar panels just before the main body of the spacecraft hit the surface. Evidence suggests that the southern cluster of ejected material is probably made up of fragments from the 6.6 meter wide boulder Atabaque.
>DART hit a surface that was rocky & full of large boulders, resulting in chaotic & filamentary structures in its ejecta patterns. 2nd author Jessica Sunshine, who also served as deputy principal investigator for the Deep Impact mission to comet Tempel 1, made this comparison between the 2 impact missions: “Deep Impact hit a surface that was essentially very small, uniform particles, so its ejecta was relatively smooth & continuous. And here, we see that DART hit a surface that was rocky & full of large boulders, resulting in chaotic & filamentary structures in its ejecta patterns. Comparing these 2 missions side-by-side gives us this insight into how different types of celestial bodies respond to impacts, which is crucial to ensuring that a planetary defense mission is successful.”
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