The Trace Left Behind the First ‘Bombed’ Meteorite Shared

NASA has been working on it for years to protect the planet from meteorites. As part of the DART project It successfully completed its first test yesterday. The agency deliberately hit the asteroid called Dimorphos with the vehicle it sent into space. The goal was to find out if the asteroid could be changed in orbit by a collision.

Images of the moment and after the collision were later shared by Hubble and James Webb. While the meteorite had to be observed for a while for the result, an important development was recorded today. located in chile SOAR telescope The astronomers following the meteorite with over 10 thousand kilometers shared.

The trace left behind by the meteorite:

The above image, taken two days after the spacecraft hit the asteroid, is behind the meteor. He left a trail of 10,000 kilometers. was showing. This trail was made up of dust and other materials blasted into space by the collision. Scientists expect this trace to get longer and disperse, and at some point be too thin to be observed.

The behavior of the 160-meter-wide meteorite after the collision, for weeks and months will be followed closely. Data from this mission will be critical to protecting humanity against potential future dangers.

Meteorite could be history’s first artificial comet

When comets approach the stars while wandering in a certain orbit or straying in space, they are left behind by the evaporation of water and ice on them. thousands of kilometers are meteorites.

The meteorite that NASA hit last week did not naturally create a trace in this way, but the impact of the collision left behind thousands of kilometers of traces, just like a comet. This is the asteroid in question. first artificial comet in history It makes me think it could be. However, scientists have not yet made an official statement on this subject.