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== Proposed exploration ==
== Proposed exploration ==


Didymos is the target of the proposed [[AIDA (mission)|Asteroid Impact & Deflection Assessment (AIDA) mission]], a collaboration between [[European Space Agency|ESA]] and [[NASA]].<ref name="P. Michel">{{cite web |url=https://www-n.oca.eu/michel/AIDA_Papers/Abstract_AstroRecon2015_PMichel.pdf |format=PDF |title=AIDA: Asteroid Impact and Deflection Assessment mission under study at ESA and NASA |work=Observatoire de la Côte d'Azur |date=February 2015 |accessdate=2015-03-29 }}</ref><ref name="Aida study 2015">[http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Engineering_Technology/NEO/Asteroid_Impact_Deflection_Assessment_AIDA_study Asteroid Impact & Deflection Assessment (AIDA) study].</ref> This will be the first spacecraft to target an asteroid known to have a moon ([[243 Ida]] was visited by the Galileo spacecraft but its moon was a surprise). The mission is intended to test whether a spacecraft could successfully deflect an asteroid on a collision course with Earth; it would study Didymos from orbit, while also crashing a smaller spacecraft into Didymoon, in order to study the effect on its orbit.
Didymos is the target of the proposed [[AIDA (mission)|Asteroid Impact & Deflection Assessment (AIDA) mission]], a collaboration between [[European Space Agency|ESA]] and [[NASA]].<ref name="P. Michel">{{cite web |url=https://www-n.oca.eu/michel/AIDA_Papers/Abstract_AstroRecon2015_PMichel.pdf |format=PDF |title=AIDA: Asteroid Impact and Deflection Assessment mission under study at ESA and NASA |work=Observatoire de la Côte d'Azur |date=February 2015 |accessdate=2015-03-29 }}</ref><ref name="Aida study 2015">[http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Engineering_Technology/NEO/Asteroid_Impact_Deflection_Assessment_AIDA_study Asteroid Impact & Deflection Assessment (AIDA) study] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150607004851/http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Engineering_Technology/NEO/Asteroid_Impact_Deflection_Assessment_AIDA_study |date=2015-06-07 }}.</ref> This will be the first spacecraft to target an asteroid known to have a moon ([[243 Ida]] was visited by the Galileo spacecraft but its moon was a surprise). The mission is intended to test whether a spacecraft could successfully deflect an asteroid on a collision course with Earth; it would study Didymos from orbit, while also crashing a smaller spacecraft into Didymoon, in order to study the effect on its orbit.


==See also==
==See also==

Revision as of 06:43, 23 June 2017

65803 Didymos
Discovery [1]
Discovered bySpacewatch
Discovery siteKitt Peak National Obs.
Discovery date11 April 1996
Designations
(65803) Didymos
Named after
Greek word for "Twin" [2]
1996 GT
Apollo · NEO · PHA [1][3]
Orbital characteristics [1]
Epoch 16 February 2017 (JD 2457800.5)
Uncertainty parameter 0
Observation arc20.91 yr (7,637 days)
Aphelion2.2758 AU
Perihelion1.0133 AU
1.6446 AU
Eccentricity0.3838
2.11 yr (770 days)
110.80°
0° 28m 2.28s / day
Inclination3.4077°
73.222°
319.25°
Known satellites1[4]
Earth MOID0.0407 AU
Physical characteristics
Dimensions0.78±0.08 km[1]
0.800 km (taken)[5]
2.26±0.01 h[4]
2.26 h[5]
2.2593±0.0002 h[6]
0.15 (derived)[5]
SMASS = Xk [1] · X [5]
18.0[1] · 18.16[5][6][7] · 18.16±0.03[8]

65803 Didymos, provisional designation 1996 GT, is a synchronous binary[4] Apollo asteroid discovered on April 11, 1996 by Joe Montani at Spacewatch at Kitt Peak. It has a moon, whence the appellation "Didymos", meaning "twin". The primary is about 800 m in diameter and the moon 150 m in diameter. The moon is in an orbit about 1.1 km from the primary and with an orbital period of 11.9 hours. Didymos is the most easily reachable asteroid of its size from Earth, requiring a delta-v of only 5.1 km/s[9] for a spacecraft to rendezvous, compared to 6.0 km/s to reach the Moon. It is the target of the proposed AIDA spacecraft, an unmanned mission that would test the possibility of changing an asteroid's orbit via impacting its surface.

Discovery and naming

Didymos was discovered by Joseph L. Montani using the Spacewatch 0.9-m telescope in 1996. The binary nature of the asteroid was discovered by others; suspicions of binarity first arose in Goldstone delay-Doppler echoes, and these were confirmed with an optical light-curve analysis, along with Arecibo radar imaging on November 23, 2003. It has been informally named "Didymoon".[10][2] Naming citation was published on 13 July 2004 (M.P.C. 52326).[11]

Montani proposed a name to the International Astronomical Union only after the binary nature of the object was discovered: the name "Didymos" is Greek for "twin". The moon has been nicknamed "Didymoon".

Orbital characteristics

Didymos's approach to Earth in November 2003 was especially close with a distance of 7.18 million km; it will not come that near until November 2123, with a distance of 5.9 million km. Didymos also passes very close to Mars: 4.69 million km in 2144.

The minor-planet moon has an orbital period of 11.9 hr.[5]

Physical characteristics

Didymos rotates rapidly, with a period of 2.26 hours. Its density is 1.7±0.4 g/cm3.

Proposed exploration

Didymos is the target of the proposed Asteroid Impact & Deflection Assessment (AIDA) mission, a collaboration between ESA and NASA.[12][13] This will be the first spacecraft to target an asteroid known to have a moon (243 Ida was visited by the Galileo spacecraft but its moon was a surprise). The mission is intended to test whether a spacecraft could successfully deflect an asteroid on a collision course with Earth; it would study Didymos from orbit, while also crashing a smaller spacecraft into Didymoon, in order to study the effect on its orbit.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 65803 Didymos (1996 GT)" (2017-03-09 last obs.). Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 12 March 2017.
  2. ^ a b Schmadel, Lutz D. (2006). Dictionary of Minor Planet Names – (65803) Didymos, Addendum to Fifth Edition: 2003–2005. Springer Berlin Heidelberg. p. 225. ISBN 978-3-540-34361-5. Retrieved 12 March 2017.
  3. ^ "65803 Didymos (1996 GT)". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 12 March 2017.
  4. ^ a b c Pravec, P.; Benner, L. A. M.; Nolan, M. C.; Kusnirak, P.; Pray, D.; Giorgini, J. D.; et al. (November 2003). "(65803) 1996 GT". IAU Circ. (8244). Bibcode:2003IAUC.8244....2P. Retrieved 12 March 2017.
  5. ^ a b c d e f "LCDB Data for (65803) Didymos". Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB). Retrieved 12 March 2017.
  6. ^ a b Pravec, P.; Scheirich, P.; Kusnirák, P.; Sarounová, L.; Mottola, S.; Hahn, G.; et al. (March 2006). "Photometric survey of binary near-Earth asteroids". Icarus. 181 (1): 63–93. Bibcode:2006Icar..181...63P. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2005.10.014. Retrieved 12 March 2017.
  7. ^ Kitazato, K.; Abe, M.; Mito, H.; Tarusawa, K.; Soyano, T.; Nishihara, S.; et al. (March 2004). "Photometric Behaviour Dependent on Solar Phase Angle and Physical Characteristics of Binary Near-Earth-Asteroid (65803) 1996 GT". 35th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference. Bibcode:2004LPI....35.1623K. Retrieved 12 March 2017.
  8. ^ Pravec, Petr; Harris, Alan W.; Kusnirák, Peter; Galád, Adrián; Hornoch, Kamil (September 2012). "Absolute magnitudes of asteroids and a revision of asteroid albedo estimates from WISE thermal observations". Icarus. 221 (1): 365–387. Bibcode:2012Icar..221..365P. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2012.07.026. Retrieved 12 March 2017.
  9. ^ "Delta-v for spacecraft rendezvous with all known near-Earth asteroids". 2010. Retrieved 2010-10-07.
  10. ^ "Telescopes focus on target of ESA's asteroid mission" at phys.org (30 June 2015)
  11. ^ "MPC/MPO/MPS Archive". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 12 March 2017.
  12. ^ "AIDA: Asteroid Impact and Deflection Assessment mission under study at ESA and NASA" (PDF). Observatoire de la Côte d'Azur. February 2015. Retrieved 2015-03-29.
  13. ^ Asteroid Impact & Deflection Assessment (AIDA) study Archived 2015-06-07 at the Wayback Machine.
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