New Hubble and Webb Images Capture Aftermath of DART Asteroid Smash Up:
The event marked the first time that Hubble and Webb simultaneously observed the same object.
NASA's first attempt at nudging an asteroid from its usual orbital path was captured by the DART spacecraft itself, its companion spacecraft, LICIACube, and various ground-based observatories on Earth. And as promised, the celestial smash up was also observed by the Hubble and Webb space telescopes, the first images from which were released today.
The recently commissioned Webb Space Telescope captured one image of the Didymos-Dimorphos system before the collision and several in the hours after the event. In total, Webb performed five hours of observations, capturing 10 images. Astronomer Heidi Hammel from the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy led the viewing session.
[...] The newly released Hubble image shows plenty of surface material emanating from Dimorphos, with rays extending out from its body. Some of the rays have a slight curve to them, which astronomers will need to study and explain. Fascinatingly, the brightness of the Didymos-Dimorphos system increased three-fold after the impact, and this brightness held steady for eight hours. Again, this is something astronomers will need to explain.
Hubble will perform 10 more observations of the system over the next three weeks. "These regular, relatively long-term observations as the ejecta cloud expands and fades over time will paint a more complete picture of the cloud's expansion from the ejection to its disappearance," the ESA release stated.
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The orbital change was even bigger than scientists expected:
It worked! Humanity has, for the first time, purposely moved a celestial object.
As a test of a potential asteroid-deflection scheme, NASA's DART spacecraft shortened the orbit of asteroid Dimorphos by 32 minutes — a far greater change than astronomers expected.
The Double Asteroid Redirection Test, or DART, rammed into the tiny asteroid at about 22,500 kilometers per hour on September 26 (SN: 9/26/22). The goal was to move Dimorphos slightly closer to the larger asteroid it orbits, Didymos.
[...] The minimum change for the DART team to declare success was 73 seconds — a hurdle the mission overshot by more than 30 minutes. The team thinks the spectacular plume of debris that the impactor kicked up gave the mission extra oomph. The impact itself gave some momentum to the asteroid, but the debris flying off in the other direction pushed it even more — like a temporary rocket engine.
"This is a very exciting and promising result for planetary defense," Chabot said. But the change in orbital period was just 4 percent. "It just gave it a small nudge," she said. So knowing an asteroid is coming is crucial to future success. For something similar to work on an asteroid headed for Earth, "you'd want to do it years in advance," Chabot said. An upcoming space telescope called Near Earth Asteroid Surveyor is one of many projects intended to give that early warning.
Previously:
NASA's DART Asteroid Impact Test Left a Trail Over 6,000 Miles Long
New Hubble and Webb Images Capture Aftermath of DART Asteroid Smash Up
NASA's DART Successfully Collides With Asteroid and Makes a Show
(Score: 3, Interesting) by PiMuNu on Sunday October 02 2022, @08:10AM
It's interesting what causes curvature in the trajectories? Magnetic field? Or maybe just "trick of the light" with some gas shading other gas from sun?
(Score: 2) by agr on Monday October 03 2022, @05:35AM
Presumably some of the material blasted off of Dimorphos did not get enough energy to escape Didymos’ gravity and would remain in orbit around Didymos, creating an enveloping cloud that might explain the brightening. Some fresh dust landing on Didymos might have increased the asteroid’s albido as well. It will be interesting to see how long the brightening lasts and whether a ring system evolves. This might present a whole new aspect of the DART experiment, a small scale model of planetary formation.