Fresh images from two famous space-based telescopes are helping to illuminate the DART mission. The NASA craft crashed into Dimorphos on September 26 after 10 months in the asteroid system. Dimorphos is a football stadium-sized moonlet and Didymos is a large moonlet. The Double Asteroid Redirection Test could lead to a planetary defense system against hazardous asteroids. The first attempt at nudging an asteroid from its usual path was captured by various ground-based telescopes. The first images from which were released today were taken by the Hubble and Webb space telescopes. One image of the Didymos-Dimorphos system was captured before and after the collision. Five hours of observations were performed by the man. The viewing session was led by an astronomer.
It's roughly 6 million miles from Didymos to the second Sun- Earth lagrange point. The DART observations were performed using the NIRCam mounted to the $10 billion telescope. According to a European Space Agency press release, the images show a tight, compact core, with material streaming away from the center of where the impact took place.
The team was able to push the limits of the observatory. According to the press release, it took weeks of planning to properly track the two asteroids. The Didymos-Dimorphos system will continue to be monitored by the Near-Infrared Spectrograph and the Mid-Infrared Instruments.
Since 1990, the Hubble Space Telescope has taken before- and after pictures of the asteroid system. The first post- impact view of the test was captured by Hubble's Wide Field Camera 3.
The new Hubble image shows a lot of surface material coming from Dimorphos. Astronomers will need to study and explain some of the rays that have a small curve to them. The Didymos-Dimorphos system had a three-fold increase in brightness after the impact. Astronomers will have to explain this again.
Over the next three weeks, Hubble will make 10 more observations. A more complete picture of the cloud's expansion from the ejection to its disappearance will be painted by the regular observations.
Evidence of the impact was captured from incredibly far away. The data will show the composition and volume of Dimorphos, as well as the degree to which the DART experiment moved the asteroid. This information will be used by scientists to develop a planetary defense strategy.
DART's fatal encounter with an asteroid is one of the most intriguing images.
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