Dimorphos: The DART crash left a 10,000km tail  

Two days after the crash

The DART spacecraft successfully collided with the asteroid Dimorphos last week, and now scientists are observing the asteroid to see if the collision was enough to change its course.

In any case, the collision did not go unnoticed, as the SOAR telescope in Chile detected that the collision left a trail of debris and dust stretching 10,000 kilometers from the asteroid within two days of the collision.

Of course DART is not the only one responsible for this queue. The pressure from the Sun’s radiation pushed the materials apart, as it does with a comet’s tail. The tail is expected to spread further, until it is indistinguishable from ordinary particles floating around the Solar System.

Researchers will use data from SOAR and other science instruments to understand the true extent of the damage DART caused to Dimorph by estimating the amount and speed of material ejected from it during the collision. So we’ll see if we’ve finally managed to change Dimorph’s orbit around Gemini and assess whether this is a viable planetary defense strategy against Earth-bound asteroids.