Two days after the US space agency NASA deliberately guided a probe into the asteroid Dimorphos to change orbit, several images were released Thursday. The images, taken by the Hubble and Webb space telescopes and a microprobe, among others, show a huge cloud of dust and debris that spread after the collision.
“We have harmed Dimorphos,” says Patrick Michel, according to the European Space Agency (ESA), which is involved in the evaluation of the DART experiment. According to the scientist, the amount of material thrown into space when the probe hit the ground was “pretty unbelievable”.
The asteroid warning system ATLAS (Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System) has also published a time-lapse video of the maneuver. It was composed of frames from his telescope in South Africa, which took a picture every 40 seconds. The entire sequence lasts about two hours (see video below).
“Dust cloud as big as the earth”
According to experts, the DART probe created a “very, very large cloud of dust” when it hit the ground. It is said to have had a diameter of several thousand kilometers. The size of the dust cloud around Dimorphos has taken people by surprise, according to University of Hawaii astronomer John Tony. He had not expected that, says the researcher in the “New York Times”. “Within an hour, the cloud was as big as the Earth,” says the expert.
The microprobe LICIAcube (Light Italian CubeSat for Imaging of Asteroids) of the Italian space agency ASI also transmitted images of the impact on Earth. They were taken minutes after the collision Tuesday night. The probe (pictured below), which was flown into space with DART and disconnected on September 11, flew past Dimorphos at a distance of almost 60 kilometers a few minutes after the collision and took pictures.
Mini probe shoots material thrown up
The black and white photos clearly show differences in brightness and a cloud of thrown material. “Here are the first images taken by LICIACube of the impact of the DART mission on Dimorphos. Now begins weeks and months of hard work for the scientists and engineers involved in this first planetary defense mission, so stay connected!” the ASI tweeted.
The Hubble and James Webb space telescopes were also pointed at Dimorphos. A frame-by-frame animation published on the ESA website shows the aftermath of the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) in time-lapse. The animation spans the period from just before the probe’s impact to five hours after the impact. Plumes of material from a compact core appear as wisps flowing away from where the probe struck. An area of rapid, extreme brightening is also visible in the images.
Dust cloud will fall back on asteroids
The components of the huge cloud of slow-moving debris and dust left behind near the asteroids Didymos and Dimorphos will fall back to the surfaces of the two celestial bodies in the coming weeks, experts said. It is said that the dust cloud can now be used to estimate the density of the surface of Dimorphos.
The DART probe hit the surface of the asteroid Dimorphos as planned on Tuesday evening. According to NASA researchers, this is a first tentative attempt to see if it is possible to change the orbit of an asteroid in this way. The mission is hoped to provide insight into how to protect Earth from approaching asteroids.
Impact is designed to change jobs
After the impact, Dimorphos’s orbit of about 12 hours is expected to be at least 73 seconds shorter and possibly up to 10 minutes shorter.
Source: Krone
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
