Didymos: Difference between revisions
Mark Widmer (talk | contribs) (→Properties: Added mass value.) |
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https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/asteroids-comets-and-meteors/asteroids/didymos/in-depth/ | https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/asteroids-comets-and-meteors/asteroids/didymos/in-depth/ | ||
Johnston, Wm. Robert. "(65803) Didymos and Dimorphos" Oct 9, 2021. Johnston's Archive [ http://www.johnstonsarchive.net/astro/astmoons/am-65803.html ] | |||
Revision as of 09:44, 27 May 2022
The asteroid Didymos and its smaller, satellite asteroid Dimorphos comprise a binary asteroid system within the solar system. Didymos was discovered in 1996, and is estimated to contain roughly 99% of the mass of the Didymos-Dimorphos system.
Properties
Didymos has a mass of 500 to 600 billion kilograms. It is roughly spherical in shape, with an approximate diameter of 780 meters (slightly less than half a mile), and rotates once about its axis about every 2.3 hours.
Didymos orbits the Sun in an elliptical orbit, with a nearest and farthest distance from the sun of about 1 AU and about 2.3 AU, respectively. It orbits the Sun every 2.1 years.
References
Info from NASA: https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/asteroids-comets-and-meteors/asteroids/didymos/in-depth/
Johnston, Wm. Robert. "(65803) Didymos and Dimorphos" Oct 9, 2021. Johnston's Archive [ http://www.johnstonsarchive.net/astro/astmoons/am-65803.html ]