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The Hunt for Didymos
JOA 2025, Vol. 15, No. 1, Page 7 Author(s): John BroughtonAbstract: Monitoring the effects of the 2022 DART mission impact on the heliocentric orbit of the Didymos binary asteroid system is highly dependent on mobile occultation observations. After an unfavourable 16-month period for recording these fleeting events, three occultations observed in 2024 were key to tracking down its location at the sub-kilometre level, providing the astrometry scientists needed to measure the post-collision Δv experienced by the system. Here I describe the equipment, time-saving strategies and results of a six-station deployment made in remote outback Queensland on 2024 August 13 and list prospective events.