NASA made history last week with an out-of-this-world test. DART (Dual Asteroid Redirection Test) successfully broke up an asteroid that was nearly 7 million miles out of its path. It was a major event seen around the world and thanks to the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), we have a whole new look.
On September 26, 2022, DART intentionally crashed into the asteroid moon named Dimorphos. It was a monumental triumph in science for NASA and anyone interested in astronomy. Using a spacecraft, DART could deflect an asteroid, changing its path. While this asteroid wasn’t a threat to Earth, it allowed the technology to be tested in case it ever became a problem.
And even though the asteroid was 7 million miles away, there were plenty of eyes from outer space: Both the Hubble Telescope and the JWST observed the event. And now there are pictures. According to a NASA statement, the Hubble and JWST observations were an “operational milestone,” but the data collected will allow scientists to learn more about the history and composition of our solar system.
“Webb and Hubble show what we’ve always known to be true at NASA: We learn more when we work together,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. “For the first time, Webb and Hubble have simultaneously captured images of the same target in the cosmos: an asteroid that was struck by a spacecraft after a journey of seven million miles. All mankind eagerly awaits the discoveries to come from Webb, Hubble, and our ground-based telescopes, on the DART mission and beyond.”
Science: NASA, ESA, Jian-Yang Li (PSI); image processing: Alyssa Pagan (STScI)
NASA explains that the two telescopes capture different wavelengths, which means they can use a more rounded data set to assess essential information. With Hubble’s ability to detect visible wavelengths and JWST to detect infrared, scientists can gain more information.
Using data from the two telescopes will “reveal the size distribution of particles in the expanding dust cloud, helping to determine whether it ejected many large pieces or mostly fine dust,” NASA explains. “Combining this information, along with ground-based telescope observations, will help scientists understand how effectively a kinetic impact can alter an asteroid’s orbit.”
NASA, ESA, CSA, Cristina Thomas (Northern Arizona University), Ian Wong (NASA-GSFC); Joseph DePasquale (STScI)
NASA has released its first images of JWST that show “a compact, compact core, with plumes of material appearing as fillets radiating away from the center where the impact took place.” NASA shared a timelapse GIF of the 10 images the telescope captured over five hours, covering the time before and the hours after the impact.
The agency also released the first Hubble images of the impact, showing “impact ejecta appearing as jets extending from the body of the asteroid.”
Science: NASA, ESA, Jian-Yang Li (PSI); animation: Alyssa Pagan (STScI)
It will still be some time before all the data reaches NASA to be dissected by scientists. Hubble will continue to observe the asteroid for the next few weeks to continue collecting data.
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