Didymos

Didymos — asteroid, shown live in Cosmoscope, a real-time 3D map of the universe.

The larger member of the asteroid pair visited by DART. This model preserves the mission’s reconstructed terrain at its original scale. Dimorphos moves on a simplified mutual orbit, with the measured period change after the 2022 impact.

Shape

DART DRACO reconstruction v003

Model extent

818 × 801 × 604 m

Companion

Dimorphos · independently selectable

Surface

Measured terrain, neutral material; incomplete imaging coverage

Binary orbit

Approximate circular pre/post-DART periods; phase and attitude illustrative

Trajectory

JPL Horizons system barycentre · 2020–2040

Credit

NASA/Johns Hopkins APL · PDS DART archive

Seeing Didymos in real time

Cosmoscope puts Didymos at its true position in the solar system, computed from JPL-derived ephemeris and updated continuously. Open the live 3D view to see, in real time, how far Didymos is from the Sun and from Earth right now, how many minutes or hours light takes to cross that gap, and how fast it is moving along its orbit. Scrub the timeline to place Didymos where it was on any past date, or where it will be years from now.