The impact of the asteroid DART leaves a “tail” of 10,000 km – Engadget

of NASA The DART probe hit the asteroid Dimorphos last week Subsequently, telescopes in various places are still observing follow-up effects as a reference for defending the earth in this way in the future. Among them, the Southern Astrophysical Research (SoAR) telescope in Chile captured the image above, showing that the hit Dimorphos left a 10,000-kilometer “tail”.

This tail is actually not entirely produced by the impact, but is the result of the material launched by the impact of the DART being blown by the solar wind, which is somewhat similar to the principle of a comet. So astronomers estimate that the tail will only lengthen over time, until it fades to the point of being invisible. Of course, this photo isn’t just for visualization: astronomers hope to finally determine the size of the particles emitted after the DART impact (whether it is a large rock or dust), as well as the speed and total amount of material thrown out. This information will provide scientists with a better understanding of how long a shock device will be needed to hit an asteroid in the future and whether the shattered rock will cause secondary damage.