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DART Ejecta Analysis Reveals Boulder Clusters Could Tilt Dimorphos’s Orbit

University of Maryland analysis shows that clusters of boulders from DART’s impact carried lateral momentum capable of tilting Dimorphos’s orbital plane by up to one degree.

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Overview

  • Researchers tracked 104 boulders ranging from 0.2 to 3.6 meters in radius using LICIACube images to map their three-dimensional trajectories.
  • The team found that the meter-scale boulders carried more than three times the spacecraft’s momentum and were ejected primarily perpendicular to DART’s flight path.
  • About 70% of the ejected rocks formed a southern cluster likely originating from the 3.3-meter-radius boulder Atabaque, indicating source-specific fragmentation.
  • Lateral momentum from the clustered ejecta could induce erratic tumbling and tilt the asteroid’s orbital plane by up to one degree, revealing added complexity in deflection physics.
  • Findings will directly inform the European Space Agency’s Hera mission, which is slated to arrive at the Didymos-Dimorphos system in 2026 to validate ejecta models.