TKtommmy t1_jal2jo6 wrote
Reply to comment by gobblox38 in NASA’s DART data validates kinetic impact as planetary defense method | DART altered the orbit of the asteroid moonlet Dimorphos by 33 minutes by mepper
No, we're talking the orbital period in time. Actual minutes of time.
gobblox38 t1_jal5eri wrote
>Based on the change in the binary orbit period^2 , we find an instantaneous reduction in Dimorphos’s along-track orbital velocity component of 2.70 ± 0.10 mm s^–1
I should have read the article more closely. I thought they meant the angle changed when what really happened is the speed reduction increased the orbital period by 33 minutes.
After giving some consideration as to why they'd write it like that, it makes sense. Changing the orbital period by an amount of time may be enough for another orbiting body to get out of the way.
My bias got in the way of this one, thanks for the correction.
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