The most recent astronomical event is none other thanNASA(NASA) used a small satellite to crash into a near-Earth asteroid and change its orbit.
It is reported that on September 26, NASA used an orbiting spacecraft to perform a kinetic energy impact on a near-Earth asteroid. On the 29th local time, NASA released new photos taken by the Hubble and Webb Space Telescopes, which caused concern.
Space telescopes on all continents of the world are observing this process. On the 29th, new images released by NASA showed that a “giant crater” appeared after the impact of the asteroid Deimos. The impact caused the rock flow to splash into space, Shows bright radiated light.
The asteroid tripled in brightness after the impact, according to images captured by the Hubble Space Telescope, NASA said. The Hubble and Webb telescopes will continue to observe in the coming weeks, and scientists won’t know the exact changes until November.
The experimental object selected by NASA this time is a “double asteroid” system. The impacted asteroid is 160 meters in diameter, and it revolves around another asteroid with a diameter of 780 meters. 1 km.
In addition, it is understood that the DART satellite is only 19 meters in diameter, less than one-eighth of the impact target. Scientists estimate that the impact will change the orbit of Dimorphos by 7 minutes.
And, 15 days before the impact mission, a small cube “box” (LICIA Cube) was isolated on the DART satellite, which was provided by the Italian Space Agency and is an imager with its own wings.
After separation, it will also automatically adjust its attitude to reach the sky above DART, witness the historical moment of the impact, and capture images of the asteroid ejecta formed in space during the impact.
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