The impact of the NASA asteroid captured by the SOAR telescope in Chile.
REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, CHILE – Tabrakan asteroid The United States Air and Space Administration (NASA) left a huge 6,000-mile (10,000-kilometer) debris trail. An extraordinary image captured by the SOAR (Southern Astrophysical Research) telescope in Chile two days after the impact on September 26 shows the trail of the asteroid Dimorphos as a white streak in the darkness of space millions of miles from Earth.
NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) spacecraft intentionally hit Dimorphos, a harmless lunar asteroid in the Didymos double asteroid system, as part of a planetary defense mission to test technology to protect Earth from dangerous future asteroids. The dust trail is made up of ejected material that has been pushed upward by the pressure of solar radiation and is similar to the tail of a comet. Ejecta is material that is forced or ejected, especially following a volcanic eruption, a meteor impact or a stellar explosion.
“It’s amazing how we were able to clearly capture the structure and magnitude of the impact in the days following the impact,” said astronomer Teddy Kareta.
“Now begins the next phase of work for the DART team as they analyze the data and observations of our team and other observers around the world who share the study of this exciting event.” to say another astronomer involved in the arrest, Matthew Knight.
The data from the observations will help scientists learn about the surface of the asteroid Dimorphos, how much material was lifted by the collision, how fast it was ejected, and whether the force of the collision caused large chunks to be released. particularly fine material or powder.
“The analysis of this information will help scientists protect the Earth and its inhabitants by better understanding the amount and nature of the ejected materials resulting from the impact and how they can alter the asteroid’s orbit,” said NOIRLab, which manages the SOAR telescope. Digital TrendsWednesday (10/5/2022)
It is hoped that in the coming days or weeks the DART team will be able to offer some clues as to whether the test has changed the trajectory of the asteroid Dimorphos, although it may take a while before definitive conclusions can be shared.
