The ASTEP+ telescope observed a very important increase in the brightness of the Didymos-Dimorphos asteroid following the DART impact on Dimorphos. The brightness has been multiplied by a factor 4! This is most likely due to the dust and pebbles ejected from the surface by the shock wave. We now want to measure how fast these particles will fall back on Didymos or on Dimorphos, or leave the system. Furthermore, by combining these observations to those from other telescopes, we will be able to measure changes to the Dimorphos orbital period, a crucial measurement to understand how much angular momentum can be transmitted to an asteroid.
ASTEP+ is a telescope based at the Concordia Station, Antarctica which is operated by IPEV and PNRA. The ASTEP+ observations were possible thanks to support from INSU, Observatoire de la Côte d'Azur, Université Côte d'Azur, University of Birmingham, ESA.
