The two titans of space observatories – Hubble and JWST – both capture the moment NASA’sDART missionintentionally slammed into an asteroid earlier this workweek . It ’s the first time this span of iconic telescopes have been used to simultaneously observe the same celestial target and their joint body of work is already helping to shed light on how this historic mission unfolded .
On Monday , thefirst - of - its - kind planetary defence missionsaw an uncrewed spacecraft collide with asteroid moonlet Dimorphos , a small torso just 160 meters ( 530 feet ) in diam , that orbits a larger , 780 - beat ( 2,560 - foot ) asteroid called Didymos .
The intention was to see whether it could be possible to interchange the class of an asteroid if , hypothetically , it was steer towards Earth . In the words of NASA Administrator Bill Nelson , the mission was an “ unprecedented achiever for world defense . ”
Full uncropped version of the image above. Image credit: NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI
The hit causedquite the bang . Brand new Hubble and JWST trope show that the smash - landing place resulted in a meaning split second of flying debris , predict ejecta , but the duet do to capture slightly different aspects that will assist the scientific study of this event .
Through the pair ’s observations , astronomers hope to learn about the nature of the surface of Dimorphos , how much material was squirt by the hit , and how fast it was ejected . They are also take care to find oneself out how the crash affected the asteroid : did the encroachment cause lots of big lump to vanish off or was it mostly fine dust ?
JWSTtook one observation of the asteroid before the collision , then several more after the impact . Using its Near - Infrared Camera ( NIRCam ) , thetelescope capturedplumes of fabric flinging away from the wallop site in wisps of debris .
Over the next few months , JWST will use the NIRSpec , as well as the Mid - Infrared Instrument ( MIRI ) , to gain insight into the asteroid ’s chemical composing .
Elsewhere in the Solar System , Hubblewas also busy working on Monday evening , capturing before and after shots of the impact . Its post - crash look-alike showed material fly out of the impact web site like light beam stretching out from the soundbox of the asteroid .
No one is quite sure why yet , but it appears some of the rays became slightly curved as they air out from the asteroid . Hubble ’s observations also suggest that the light of Didymos increased by three times after impact .
Like JWST , Hubble will keep an eye on Dimorphos , observing it at least 10 more clip over the next three weeks .
All of this is just the first chapter , however . In October 2024,ESA ’s Hera missionis set to shell off and perform a detailed post - impact survey of Dimorphos to try the consequence of the first kinetic impingement trial of asteroid deflection . The mission will also be humankind ’s first investigation to rendezvous with a binary asteroid system .
