Two tails of dust ejected from the Didymos-Dimorphos asteroid system are seen in new images from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, documenting the lingering aftermath of the NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) impact.
The DART spacecraft impacted Dimorphos, a small moonlet of Didymos, on Sept. 26 in a planetary defense test to change Dimorphos’ orbit by crashing into it.
Repeated observations from Hubble over the last several weeks have allowed scientists to present a more complete picture of how the system’s debris cloud has evolved over time. The observations show that the ejected material, or “ejecta,” has expanded and faded in brightness as time went on after impact, largely as expected. The twin tail is an unexpected development, although similar behavior is commonly seen in comets and active asteroids. The Hubble observations provide the best-quality image of the double-tail to date.
Following impact, Hubble made 18 observations of the system. Imagery indicates the second tail formed between Oct. 2 and Oct. 8.
In this image, DART impacted the Didymos-Dimorphos system from the 10 o’clock direction.
The relationship between the comet-like tail and other ejecta features seen at various times in images from Hubble and other telescopes is still unclear, and is something the Investigation Team is currently working to understand.
Credits
Science
NASA, ESA, STScI, Jian-Yang Li (PSI)
Image Processing
Joseph DePasquale
| About The Object | |
|---|---|
| Object Name | Didymos-Dimorphos System |
| Object Description | Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) on asteroid Dimorphos |
| About The Data | |
| Data Description | This image was created from HST data from proposal: (J. Li). |
| Instrument | WFC3/UVIS |
| Exposure Dates | 11 Oct 2022 |
| Filters | F350LP |
| About The Image | |
| Color Info | The images are separate exposures acquired by the WFC3 instrument on the Hubble Space Telescope. The color results from assigning a blue hue to a monochromatic (grayscale) image. |
| Compass Image |  |
| About The Object | |
|---|---|
| Object Name | A name or catalog number that astronomers use to identify an astronomical object. |
| Object Description | The type of astronomical object. |
| R.A. Position | Right ascension – analogous to longitude – is one component of an object's position. |
| Dec. Position | Declination – analogous to latitude – is one component of an object's position. |
| Constellation | One of 88 recognized regions of the celestial sphere in which the object appears. |
| Distance | The physical distance from Earth to the astronomical object. Distances within our solar system are usually measured in Astronomical Units (AU). Distances between stars are usually measured in light-years. Interstellar distances can also be measured in parsecs. |
| Dimensions | The physical size of the object or the apparent angle it subtends on the sky. |
| About The Data | |
| Data Description |
|
| Instrument | The science instrument used to produce the data. |
| Exposure Dates | The date(s) that the telescope made its observations and the total exposure time. |
| Filters | The camera filters that were used in the science observations. |
| About The Image | |
| Image Credit | The primary individuals and institutions responsible for the content. |
| Publication Date | The date and time the release content became public. |
| Color Info | A brief description of the methods used to convert telescope data into the color image being presented. |
| Orientation | The rotation of the image on the sky with respect to the north pole of the celestial sphere. |
