The success of NASA’s asteroid impact test caused havoc, as the Associated Press reports, astronomers using the Southern Astrophysical Research Telescope (SOAR) in Chile captured an image revealing that DART’s collision with Dimorphos left a trail of dust and other debris up to More than 6,000 miles, it wasn’t just the spacecraft that was responsible: the pressure of the solar radiation pushed the material away as if it were with a comet’s tail.
According to the researchers, the path is likely to become wider and should eventually extend to the point where the flow of dust is almost indistinguishable from the usual particles floating in the solar system, the space agency has chosen Demorphos (the moon asteroid Didymos ) because an intentional collision would not pose a threat to the Earth.
The acquisition was more than just getting a dramatic snapshot, as scientists use data collected with SOAR, the Astronomical Event Observatory Network, and other observatories to understand more about the collision and the Dimorphos itself – they will determine the amount and speed. of the material ejected from the asteroid and whether DART produced large chunks of debris. No or just fine dust, this will help understand how spacecraft can alter the asteroid’s orbit and possibly improve Earth’s defenses against wandering cosmic rocks.
