By ESA/Hubble
March 5, 2023
Hubble captures the particles from the DART effect being swept back into a comet-like tail by the pressure of sunshine on the small dust particles. This stretches out into a particles train where the lightest particles take a trip the fastest and farthest from the asteroid.
This movie captures the breakup of the asteroid Dimorphos when it was intentionally hit by NASAs 545-kilogram Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) objective spacecraft on 26 September 2022. The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope had a ringside view of the space demolition derby.
The Hubble movie starts at 1.3 hours prior to effect. The very first post-impact photo is 20 minutes after the occasion. Debris flies away from the asteroid in straight lines, moving faster than four miles per hour (quickly enough to get away the asteroids gravitational pull, so it does not fall back onto the asteroid). The ejecta kinds a mostly hollow cone with long, stringy filaments.
At about 17 hours after the impact the particles pattern entered a second stage. The pinwheel is tied to the gravitational pull of the buddy asteroid, Didymos.
Hubble next records the debris being swept back into a comet-like tail by the pressure of sunlight on the tiny dust particles. This extends into a particles train where the lightest particles take a trip the fastest and farthest from the asteroid. The mystery is compounded later when Hubble records the tail splitting in two for a couple of days.
These three panels capture the break up of the asteroid Dimorphos when it was deliberately hit by NASAs 545-kilogram Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) objective spacecraft on September 26, 2022. The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope had a ringside view of the area demolition derby. The leading panel, taken 2 hours after effect, shows an ejecta cone totaling up to an approximated 900 000 kilograms of dust.The center frame shows the vibrant interaction within the asteroids binary system that starts to misshape the cone shape of the ejecta pattern about 17 hours after the effect. The most prominent structures are rotating, pinwheel-shaped features. The pinwheel is tied to the gravitational pull of the companion asteroid, Didymos.In the bottom frame, Hubble next captures the particles being swept back into a comet-like tail by the pressure of sunlight on the tiny dust particles. This extends out into a particles train where the lightest particles travel the fastest and farthest from the asteroid. The mystery is intensified when Hubble records the tail splitting in 2 for a couple of days.Credit: NASA, ESA, STScI, J. Li (PSI).
Debris flies away from the asteroid in straight lines, moving faster than four miles per hour (fast enough to leave the asteroids gravitational pull, so it does not fall back onto the asteroid). These 3 panels record the separation of the asteroid Dimorphos when it was deliberately struck by NASAs 545-kilogram Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission spacecraft on September 26, 2022. The leading panel, taken 2 hours after effect, reveals an ejecta cone amounting to an approximated 900 000 kilograms of dust.The center frame shows the dynamic interaction within the asteroids binary system that begins to distort the cone shape of the ejecta pattern about 17 hours after the effect. The pinwheel is tied to the gravitational pull of the companion asteroid, Didymos.In the bottom frame, Hubble next captures the particles being swept back into a comet-like tail by the pressure of sunlight on the small dust particles.