Delivery of DART Impact Ejecta to Mars and Earth: Opportunity for Meteor Observations

TL;DR

This study simulates the delivery of impact ejecta from NASA's DART mission to Mars and Earth, providing insights into potential meteor observations and the dynamics of ejecta transfer between celestial bodies.

Contribution

It offers the first detailed dynamical simulations of DART ejecta trajectories and delivery times to Mars and Earth, constrained by early post-impact observations.

Findings

Ejecta can reach Mars in about 7-13 years depending on velocity.

Faster ejecta have a higher probability of impacting Earth.

Delivery is influenced by initial launch conditions and synodic periods.

Abstract

NASA's DART and ESA's Hera missions offer a unique opportunity to investigate the delivery of impact ejecta to other celestial bodies. We performed ejecta dynamical simulations using 3 million particles categorized into three size populations (10 cm, 0.5 cm, and 30 $\mu$m) and constrained by early post-impact LICIACube observations. The main simulation explored ejecta velocities ranging from 1 to 1,000 m/s, while a secondary simulation focused on faster ejecta with velocities from 1 to 2 km/s. We identified DART ejecta orbits compatible with the delivery of meteor-producing particles to Mars and Earth. Our results indicate the possibility of ejecta reaching the Mars Hill sphere in 13 years for launch velocities around 450 m/s, which is within the observed range. Some ejecta particles launched at 770 m/s could reach Mars's vicinity in 7 years. Faster ejecta resulted in a higher flux delivery towards Mars and particles impacting the Earth Hill sphere above 1.5 km/s. The delivery process is slightly sensitive to the initial observed cone range and driven by synodic periods. The launch locations for material delivery to Mars were predominantly northern the DART impact site, while they displayed a southwestern tendency for the Earth-Moon system. Larger particles exhibit a marginally greater likelihood of reaching Mars, while smaller particles favor delivery to Earth-Moon, although this effect is insignificant. To support observational campaigns for DART-created meteors, we provide comprehensive information on the encounter characteristics (orbital elements and radiants) and quantify the orbital decoherence degree of the released meteoroids.