DART Asteroid Impact from Space
Explanation:
Fifteen
days
before impact,
the DART spacecraft deployed a small companion satellite
to document its historic
planetary defense technology
demonstration.
Provided by the Italian Space Agency, the Light Italian CubeSat for
Imaging Asteroids, aka LICIACube,
recorded
this image of the event's
aftermath.
A cloud of ejecta is seen near the right edge of the frame
captured only minutes
following DART's impact with
target asteroid Dimorphos while LICIACube was about 80
kilometers away.
Presently about 11 million kilometers from Earth,
160 meter diameter Dimorphos is a moonlet orbiting 780 meter diameter
asteroid Didymos.
Didymos is seen off center in the LICIACube image.
Over the coming weeks, ground-based telescopic observations will look for a
small change in Dimorphos' orbit
around
Didymos
to
evaluate
how effectively the DART impact deflected its target.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
