James Webb and Hubble record DART collision with asteroid (PICTURES)
A new first
NASA made history with humanity’s first attempt to redirect an asteroid when DART crashed into asteroid Dimorpho. The images provided by DART and its companion LICIAcube satellite were spectacular, but at the same time, humanity’s two most powerful space telescopes were also observing the phenomenon.
This is the first time that James Webb and Hubble simultaneously observed the same phenomenon. The images they captured may not be impressive at first glance, but they will help reveal valuable details.
JWST recorded the event in the infrared spectrum, while Hubble recorded it in the optical. Observing in different spectra is very important for scientists to understand if large chunks of material were ejected from Dimorphos or if it was mostly fine dust. Thus, they will understand whether a single spacecraft impact is enough to change the orbit of an asteroid.
JWST captured 10 images in 5 hours and will continue to collect spectroscopic data from the binary Gemini-Dimorph asteroid system over the next few months to help researchers understand Dimorph’s chemical composition. NASA said JWST captured images of a solid core with ejecta of material appearing as tufts as it moved away from the collision center.
It’s worth noting that Dimorphos is traveling at three times the speed that JWST is designed to detect, yet NASA engineers were able to develop a way to record the collision.
In images captured by Hubble, the ejecta of material appears as rays extending from the center of the asteroid. Because some of these rays appear with a curvature, astronomers need to dig into the data to understand why this happened.
During the collision, Dimorph’s brightness tripled, remaining as bright for up to 8 hours after the collision. Hubble captured 45 images in total and will continue to observe the asteroid system in the coming weeks.
