The Double Asteroid Redirection Test was bashed into a tiny asteroid moonlet called Dimorphos to see if it could change the trajectory of a dangerous asteroid before it hits Earth.
The images were captured by both ground and space-based observatories, and they are absolutely breathtaking.
A huge trail of debris from what's left of Dimorphos can be seen in a newly-released image taken by a team of researchers.
Nailed it! The SOAR Telescope in Chile, operated by @NOIRLabastro, captured the more than 10,000 kilometers of trail left behind after @NASA's DART spacecraft hit Dimorphos.
Credit: CTIO/NOIRLab/SOAR/NSF/AURA/T. Kareta (Lowell Observatory), M. Knight (US Naval Academy) pic.twitter.com/F9FUsELA55
October 3, 2017: NOIRLab.
The tail stretches 6,000 miles from start to finish according to the calculations.
Teddy Kareta, astronomer at theLowell Observatory in Arizona, who produced the new image, said it was amazing how clearly they were able to capture the structure and extent of the aftermath.
The aftermath of NASA's mission was witnessed by several observatory.
The LICIACube was able to capture images of the moonlet just minutes after it was hit by NASA. The black-and-white pictures show a big dust cloud after the impact.
In order to see DART smash into the space rock, the Hubble and James Webb space telescopes were trained on the location.
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said in a statement last week that the two space probes had captured imagery from the same asteroid after seven million miles.
The images set the stage for scientists to study the dynamics of the crash.
"From this one impact event, we can learn more about the mechanics of impacts into small bodies, momentum transfer and the ability to use artificial impactors to push asteroids out of their orbits."
The science can begin now.
A trail of debris from a DART collision has been captured by a telescope.
Video shows NASA spacecraft smashing a asteroid.
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