Scientists from NOIRLab have recorded the consequences of the DART (Double Asteroid Redirection Test) mission, which consists in ramming the Dimorph asteroid. As a result, the object formed a long tail. The findings of the observations are published on the official website of the organization.
The DART project was created to protect the Earth from collisions with asteroids and meteorites. As part of the first operation, the spacecraft crashed at a speed of 6.6 kilometers per second into the Dimorph asteroid, which orbits the larger Didyma object. The diameter of the first asteroid was 780 meters, and the second — 160 meters.
As a result of the collision, the Dimorph's orbit changed slightly. In addition, a tail was formed from dust and debris ejected from the surface of the asteroid. It stretched out in a long line due to the pressure of solar radiation on the same principle as the plumes of comets are formed. The approximate length of the tail is at least ten thousand kilometers. This was recorded at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory using the SOAR telescope.
In September, a video was published correcting the trajectory of the asteroid Didim during the DART project.
