Astronomers took pictures with the Astrophysics Research (SOAR) telescope in Chile two days after the DART collision (symbolic photo)
Washington :
one of chile Telescope A new picture taken by NASA Intentional collision by the ‘DART’ spacecraft Meteorite (Asteroid) was broken, its debris is spread over a radius of thousands of kilometers. ‘Double Asteroid Redirection Test’ (DART)’s spacecraft intentionally hit a meteorite named Dimorphos on 26 September. Dimorphos was actually a stone from an asteroid named Didmos. This was the first planetary defense test in which the impact of a spacecraft attempted to alter the orbit of an asteroid.
Nailed it! The SOAR Telescope in Chile, operated by @NOIRLabastrocaptured 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— NOIRLab (@NOIRLabAstro) October 3, 2022
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Two days after the Dart collision, astronomers used the 4.1-meter Southern Astrophysics Research (SOAR) telescope in Chile to take pictures of the massive pile of dust and debris blown off the asteroid’s surface.
New images show traces of dust - ejecta that have been pushed away by the Sun’s radiation pressure, like a comet’s tail - extending from the center to the right edge of the field of view.
The researchers said that at the time these pictures were taken, Didmos’ distance from Earth would be at least 10,000 kilometers from the point of collision.
“It’s amazing that we were able to take such clear pictures of the structure and its boundaries in the days following the collision,” said Teddy Caretta of Lowell Observatory.
