Pre-impact Albedo Map and Photometric Properties of the (65803) Didymos Asteroid Binary System from DART and Ground-based Data

Abstract

Abstract This study provides a pre-impact map of the albedo of the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) target Dimorphos corrected for all the effects of viewing geometry, as well as an estimate of photometric roughness for the hemisphere imaged by DART. Other photometric properties are derived for the (65803) Didymos binary system based on DART and ground-based measurements obtained at JPL’s Table Mountain Observatory. The roughness, geometric albedo, phase curve and phase integral, and single particle phase function are typical of the S-family of asteroids. The major remaining uncertainty lies in the behavior of the phase curve below 7°. These results provide a baseline for comparison with Hera measurements, leading to an understanding of the quantitative effects of the kinetic impactor mitigation strategy.