We wait to hear if NASA is able to change the course of an asteroids’ trajectory. You can crash a spacecraft into it, it’s emerged that the collision caused a huge debris trail around 6,000 miles (10,000 kilometers) long.
Two days later, a remarkable image was captured by the SOAR telescope in Chile. The September 26 ImpactThe trail of the Dimorphos Asteroid is shown as a white streak that blazes through the blackness millions of miles away from Earth.
NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) spacecraft intentionally slammed into Dimorphos — the harmless asteroid moonlet in the double-asteroid system of Didymos — as part of a planetary defense mission aimed at testing technology to protect Earth from hazardous asteroids in the future.
The dust trail is made up of ejecta that has been pushed away by the sun’s radiation pressure and is similar to the tail of a comet.
Astronomer Teddy Kareta was one of the people who used SOAR in order to capture the image. Comment: “It’s amazing how clearly we were able to capture the structure and extent of the aftermath in the days following the impact.”
Another astronomer involved in the capture, Matthew Knight, said: “Now begins the next phase of work for the DART team as they analyze their data and observations by our team and other observers around the world who shared in studying this exciting event,” adding that the plan is to use SOAR to monitor the ejecta in the coming weeks and months.
Scientists will be able to use the data from these observations to determine the surface of Dimorphos, including how much material was released by the crash and the speed at which it was ejected. Also, they will learn whether large chunks or only fine dust were released by the impact.
“Analyzing this information will help scientists protect Earth and its inhabitants by better understanding the amount and nature of the ejecta resulting from an impact, and how that might modify an asteroid’s orbit,” said NOIRLab, which operates the SOAR telescope.
It’s hoped that in the coming days or weeks the DART team will be able to offer some indication on whether the test changed the trajectory of the Dimorphos asteroid, though it’s likely to be a whileBefore you can reach any firm conclusions.
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