Photo reveals 10,000 km debris tail prompted by DART asteroid smash
Just after NASA’s DART spacecraft slammed into the asteroid Dimorphos, the debris from the collision was blown into an massive tail stretching behind the asteroid
Place
3 October 2022
After currently being battered by a spacecraft, the asteroid Dimorphos has produced a long tail of particles. NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirect Check (DART) craft smashed into the modest asteroid on 26 September, and an impression from two days right after the affect exhibits the ensuing debris streaming away.
Dimorphos is just 170 metres throughout, and its new plume of dust and rocks measures about 10,000 kilometers lengthy. It was photographed by astronomers utilizing the Southern Astrophysical Analysis Telescope in Chile.
DART’s target in slamming into Dimorphos was to change the asteroid’s orbit close to the marginally more substantial asteroid Didymos. Observing the aftermath of the collision, particularly how a lot the orbit was shifted, will aid scientists determine out how greatest to shield Earth from any most likely dangerous asteroids that we may well experience in the foreseeable future, whilst Dimorphos and Didymos are both fully harmless.
Visuals taken straight away after the collision confirmed a large cloud of dust encompassing Dimorphos, and in the subsequent days significantly of the cloud stretched into a tail behind the asteroid. This transpired by way of the similar process that offers comets their tails, where by the radiation from the sun pushes content into a stream guiding the key body of the object.
Observing the particles left at the rear of from the impact will notify astronomers about the inner structure of Dimorphos, which will be important to creating any upcoming missions to deflect asteroids, because it is a single of the major factors dictating how an effects modifications the rock’s trajectory. A rock with a sturdy interior is more probable to be deflected on effects, somewhat than just crumble.
The moment the cloud clears absent, researchers will also be ready to analyze the refreshing floor still left at the rear of right after the affect. The European Room Company strategies to start a spacecraft identified as Hera in 2024 to take a look at the impact’s aftermath from close up, and other observations will be built working with telescopes on the floor or in orbit.
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Just after NASA’s DART spacecraft slammed into the asteroid Dimorphos, the debris from the collision was blown into an massive tail stretching behind the asteroid
Place
3 October 2022
After currently being battered by a spacecraft, the asteroid Dimorphos has produced a long tail of particles. NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirect Check (DART) craft smashed into the modest asteroid on 26 September, and an impression from two days right after the affect exhibits the ensuing debris streaming away.
Dimorphos is just 170 metres throughout, and its new plume of dust and rocks measures about 10,000 kilometers lengthy. It was photographed by astronomers utilizing the Southern Astrophysical Analysis Telescope in Chile.
DART’s target in slamming into Dimorphos was to change the asteroid’s orbit close to the marginally more substantial asteroid Didymos. Observing the aftermath of the collision, particularly how a lot the orbit was shifted, will aid scientists determine out how greatest to shield Earth from any most likely dangerous asteroids that we may well experience in the foreseeable future, whilst Dimorphos and Didymos are both fully harmless.
Visuals taken straight away after the collision confirmed a large cloud of dust encompassing Dimorphos, and in the subsequent days significantly of the cloud stretched into a tail behind the asteroid. This transpired by way of the similar process that offers comets their tails, where by the radiation from the sun pushes content into a stream guiding the key body of the object.
Observing the particles left at the rear of from the impact will notify astronomers about the inner structure of Dimorphos, which will be important to creating any upcoming missions to deflect asteroids, because it is a single of the major factors dictating how an effects modifications the rock’s trajectory. A rock with a sturdy interior is more probable to be deflected on effects, somewhat than just crumble.
The moment the cloud clears absent, researchers will also be ready to analyze the refreshing floor still left at the rear of right after the affect. The European Room Company strategies to start a spacecraft identified as Hera in 2024 to take a look at the impact’s aftermath from close up, and other observations will be built working with telescopes on the floor or in orbit.
Indicator up to our cost-free Launchpad e-newsletter for a voyage throughout the galaxy and outside of, each Friday
Extra on these subject areas: