Comments on: Telescope images of the DART impact https://habitablezone.com/2022/09/27/telescope-images-of-the-dart-impact/ Sun, 19 Apr 2026 13:37:05 -0700 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: RL https://habitablezone.com/2022/09/27/telescope-images-of-the-dart-impact/#comment-51142 RL Thu, 13 Oct 2022 03:13:38 +0000 https://habitablezone.com/?p=97469#comment-51142 Too large of a single asteroid target, and the effect would be minimal... too small of a single asteroid target, and measuring the effect might have large error bars... But a small asteroid orbiting a large one is a perfect laboratory for the experiment... the period of the orbit is easily measured... And if you were worried about minuscule chance the impact setting a small asteroid on a course that may eventually impact the earth, that is not really a concern if its a small asteroid orbiting a much larger asteroid. The Impact energy was approximately the same energy of the Oklahoma bombing in the 1990's... about 3 tons of TNT... we have much bigger things we could throw at an asteroid... Too large of a single asteroid target, and the effect would be minimal… too small of a single asteroid target, and measuring the effect might have large error bars…

But a small asteroid orbiting a large one is a perfect laboratory for the experiment… the period of the orbit is easily measured…

And if you were worried about minuscule chance the impact setting a small asteroid on a course that may eventually impact the earth, that is not really a concern if its a small asteroid orbiting a much larger asteroid.

The Impact energy was approximately the same energy of the Oklahoma bombing in the 1990′s… about 3 tons of TNT… we have much bigger things we could throw at an asteroid…

]]> By: BuckGalaxy https://habitablezone.com/2022/09/27/telescope-images-of-the-dart-impact/#comment-51140 BuckGalaxy Wed, 12 Oct 2022 03:55:09 +0000 https://habitablezone.com/?p=97469#comment-51140 Changing the asteroid's orbit from 11h 55m to 11h 23m is startling! Stunning! (Reporting on the exact change in orbit has varied by a minute or two from different sources.) One can easily extrapolate that had this rock been heading toward earth it would have been swatted completely out of the way. This is only the first of many such experiments, but certainly the entire human race can take heart in knowing if a civilization killer was heading our way and we had enough lead time, we have a tested potential tool in our bag to upscale and handle it. Well done NASA and international partners! Changing the asteroid’s orbit from 11h 55m to 11h 23m is startling! Stunning! (Reporting on the exact change in orbit has varied by a minute or two from different sources.) One can easily extrapolate that had this rock been heading toward earth it would have been swatted completely out of the way.

This is only the first of many such experiments, but certainly the entire human race can take heart in knowing if a civilization killer was heading our way and we had enough lead time, we have a tested potential tool in our bag to upscale and handle it. Well done NASA and international partners!

]]> By: podrock https://habitablezone.com/2022/09/27/telescope-images-of-the-dart-impact/#comment-51133 podrock Tue, 11 Oct 2022 19:52:11 +0000 https://habitablezone.com/?p=97469#comment-51133 https://www.vice.com/en/article/k7bpxe/nasa-successfully-punched-an-asteroid-off-course-dart-test https://www.vice.com/en/article/k7bpxe/nasa-successfully-punched-an-asteroid-off-course-dart-test

]]> By: RL https://habitablezone.com/2022/09/27/telescope-images-of-the-dart-impact/#comment-51082 RL Fri, 30 Sep 2022 17:36:16 +0000 https://habitablezone.com/?p=97469#comment-51082 That would make the impact a little more powerful than the bomb that took out the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City... That would make the impact a little more powerful than the bomb that took out the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City…

]]> By: BuckGalaxy https://habitablezone.com/2022/09/27/telescope-images-of-the-dart-impact/#comment-51081 BuckGalaxy Fri, 30 Sep 2022 15:48:33 +0000 https://habitablezone.com/?p=97469#comment-51081 <a href="https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/PSJ/ac7566" rel="nofollow">This article is something you can probably understand but it's WAY over my head. </a> But I did find this in the Introduction section: <blockquote>With its current trajectory, the spacecraft will impact Dimorphos's leading hemisphere <strong>with a relative speed of</strong> ∼6.15 km s−1 on 2022 September 26 </blockquote> According to Google, 6.15 km/ps = 13757.16 mph. (or the approximate 14k mph reported in the press.) This article is something you can probably understand but it’s WAY over my head. But I did find this in the Introduction section:

With its current trajectory, the spacecraft will impact Dimorphos’s leading hemisphere with a relative speed of ∼6.15 km s−1 on 2022 September 26

According to Google, 6.15 km/ps = 13757.16 mph. (or the approximate 14k mph reported in the press.)

]]> By: ER https://habitablezone.com/2022/09/27/telescope-images-of-the-dart-impact/#comment-51080 ER Fri, 30 Sep 2022 12:58:52 +0000 https://habitablezone.com/?p=97469#comment-51080 But the big unknown is the velocity. The 14k MPH figure quoted in yhe press is not specified as to relative to what. Was it DART's orbital velocity around the sun? Is it speed relative to Earth? Or its velocity relative to the target? The latter is the one that matters, and energy release is dominated by that figure since its a function of the SQUARE of the velocity. But the big unknown is the velocity. The 14k MPH figure quoted in yhe press is not specified as to relative to what. Was it DART’s orbital velocity around the sun? Is it speed relative to Earth? Or its velocity relative to the target?
The latter is the one that matters, and energy release is dominated by that figure since its a function of the SQUARE of the velocity.

]]> By: BuckGalaxy https://habitablezone.com/2022/09/27/telescope-images-of-the-dart-impact/#comment-51079 BuckGalaxy Fri, 30 Sep 2022 07:58:09 +0000 https://habitablezone.com/?p=97469#comment-51079 https://www.popsci.com/science/nasa-dart-asteroid/#:~:text=DART%20weighs%20in%20at%201%2C260,11%2Dbillion%2Dpound%20asteroid. https://www.popsci.com/science/nasa-dart-asteroid/#:~:text=DART%20weighs%20in%20at%201%2C260,11%2Dbillion%2Dpound%20asteroid.

]]> By: ER https://habitablezone.com/2022/09/27/telescope-images-of-the-dart-impact/#comment-51078 ER Fri, 30 Sep 2022 02:19:17 +0000 https://habitablezone.com/?p=97469#comment-51078 m is the mass in kg, probably several hundred. v is in m/s. I read the spacecraft was traveling 14000 MPH, but I don't know if that speed was relative to earth, sun, or the asteroid. Assuming a mass of 100 kg, and a velocity relative to the target of 14k MPH, it comes out to about 2 billion Joules. Or the energy equivalent of roughly 1 ton of TNT. m is the mass in kg, probably several hundred. v is in m/s. I read the spacecraft was traveling 14000 MPH, but I don’t know if that speed was relative to earth, sun, or the asteroid.

Assuming a mass of 100 kg, and a velocity relative to the target of 14k MPH, it comes out to about 2 billion Joules. Or the energy equivalent of roughly 1 ton of TNT.

]]> By: RobVG https://habitablezone.com/2022/09/27/telescope-images-of-the-dart-impact/#comment-51077 RobVG Fri, 30 Sep 2022 00:08:20 +0000 https://habitablezone.com/?p=97469#comment-51077 How much energy did DART transfer? n/t How much energy did DART transfer? n/t

]]> By: BuckGalaxy https://habitablezone.com/2022/09/27/telescope-images-of-the-dart-impact/#comment-51074 BuckGalaxy Wed, 28 Sep 2022 01:02:42 +0000 https://habitablezone.com/?p=97469#comment-51074 Probably an indication it was more rumble than solid rock or metal Probably an indication it was more rumble than solid rock or metal

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