Webdesk: On September 26, 2022, the Hubble Space Telescope was able to capture an hour-by-hour depiction of the asteroid Dimorphos colliding with the 1,200-pound NASA spacecraft DART (Double Asteroid Redirection Test).
The objective of the DART mission is to test the spacecraft’s ability to alter the orbit of Dimorphos as it orbits Didymos.
According to NASA, Didymos and Dimorphos pose no threat to the planet. However, the space agency is using this mission’s data to prepare researchers for the possibility of deflecting an asteroid away from Earth.
Below is a time-lapse depicting the hour-by-hour spread of one thousand tonnes of dust and debris in the aftermath of the collision.
NASA is surprised by the visuals in real-time. “We’ve never seen an object collide with an asteroid in a binary asteroid system in real-time before, and it’s quite surprising. I believe it is marvellous. There is too much going on here. Jian-Yang Li, who is leading one of the mission’s studies, estimates that it will take some time to determine.
The DART impact was also observed by the James Webb Space Telescope and the Lucy spacecraft, in addition to the Hubble Telescope.
