在太空所见的DART小行星撞击

2022年9月29日

DART Asteroid Impact from Space
Image Credit: ASI / NASA

Explanation: Fifteen days before impact, the DART spacecraft deployed a small companion satellite to document its historic planetary defense technology demonstration. Provided by the Italian Space Agency, the Light Italian CubeSat for Imaging Asteroids, aka LICIACube, recorded this image of the event’s aftermath. A cloud of ejecta is seen near the right edge of the frame captured only minutes following DART’s impact with target asteroid Dimorphos while LICIACube was about 80 kilometers away. Presently about 11 million kilometers from Earth, 160 meter diameter Dimorphos is a moonlet orbiting 780 meter diameter asteroid Didymos. Didymos is seen off center in the LICIACube image. Over the coming weeks, ground-based telescopic observations will look for a small change in Dimorphos’ orbit around Didymos to evaluate how effectively the DART impact deflected its target.

Tomorrow’s picture: 24 sunrises

在太空所见的DART小行星撞击
影像提供: ASI / NASA

说明: 在执行撞击的15天之前，DART太空船部署了一颗小卫星，以记录它历史性的行星防御技术展示。这艘由意大利航天局所提供、用以进行小行星成像的轻型意大利立方卫星（LICIACube），拍下了这幅此事件的余波影像。在DART撞击目标小行星双卫一的数分钟之后，距离约80公里之外的LICIACube所拍下的影像右缘附近，可以看到一团喷溅物。目前距离地球约1100万公里、直径160米的双卫一，是一颗绕行直径780米小行星双生星的小行星。在LICIACube的影像中，双生星位在中心偏右的位置。在接下来的几周里，地面望远镜将监测双卫一绕行双生星轨道的微小变化，以评估DART撞击对标的物改道的效度为何。

明日的图片: 24 sunrises