Oct. 21 () –
Two dust tails ejected from the Didymos-Dimorphos asteroid system are seen in new Hubble Telescope images, documenting the lingering aftermath of the DART crash.
This NASA mission impacted Dimorphos, a small moon of Didymos, on September 26 in the first planetary defense test, to change Dimorphos’s orbit by crashing into it. Current data shows that DART shortened Dimorphos’ original orbit of 11 hours and 55 minutes around Didymos by about 32 minutes.
Repeated Hubble observations over the past few weeks have allowed scientists to present a more complete picture of how the system’s debris cloud has evolved over time. reports NASA.
The observations show that the ejected material expanded and dull as time passed after the impact, much as expected. The twin tail is an unexpected development, although similar behavior is commonly observed in comets and active asteroids. Hubble observations provide the best-quality image of the double tail to date.
After the impact, Hubble made 18 observations of the system. The images indicate that the second tail formed between October 2 and 8.
In this image, DART hit the Didymos-Dimorphos system from the 10 o’clock direction. The relationship between the comet-like tail and other ejection features seen at various times in images from Hubble and other telescopes is still unclear.and it’s something the DART team is currently working on understanding. The northern tail is newly developed. In the coming months, scientists will take a closer look at the Hubble data to determine how the second tail developed. There are a number of possible scenarios that the team will investigate.
