Asteroid behaving unexpectedly after Nasa's deliberate Dart crash

[smp]

From the BBC:
"... However, using their school telescope, a team of children and their teacher Jonathan Swift at Thacher School in California have found that more than a month after the collision, Dimorphos' orbit continuously slowed after impact... which is unusual and unexpected. ..."

https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/66755079

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[Graeme1858]

Good story. That's proper citizen science!

Graeme

[Ylem]

Nice article, great to see kids involved with science!

[Michael131313]

Thanks Stephen. Does anyone know what type of scope they are using?

[Sky]

Thanks Stephen. Does anyone know what type of scope they are using?

PlaneWave CDK-700 telescope which has a 0.7m aperture and a fully robotic dome. The observatory operates in a fully automated fashion using a flexible dispatch scheduler.

https://www.thacher.org/academics/scien ... bservatory

[seigell]

A Private High School with a Quarter Million Dollar Observatory dating back to the 1950's - not your average "Citizen Scientist" experience. This Private School with $60K Annual Tuition brags about their Recruiting Missions to China. My High School could barely muster a Computer Lab with a Timeshare Terminal and two barebones TRS-80's, a Shop Class with a Bandsaw, and a room full of mixed manual and Selectric typewriters. Bit of difference between the Have's and Have-Not's

[smp]

Bit of difference between the Have's and Have-Not's

There's no doubt about the large gap between the "Have's and Have-Not's". However, there is no denying the accomplishment achieved by this teacher and their students. I say bravo, and let's leave the socio-politics out of it.

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[Michael131313]

Thanks very much for the info Sky. I will have to look that scope up.

[GCoyote]

I can think of effects that might have caused it to speed up but little comes to mind that might explain continued slowing.

[messier 111]

very informative, thx.