First Asteroid Impact Images from DART’s Companion Show Tentacle-Like Debris Plume

They ’re raw and a bit grainy , but LICIACube ’s first pile of epitome have arrived , showing the immediate effects of theDART spacecraftcrashing into Dimorphos .

The 31 - pound ( 14 - kilo ) LICIACube ( say LEE - cha - cube ) was trailing behind DART at the time of impact , having been dispatched by the NASA ballistic capsule two weeks ago . The investigation has two optical camera , LUKE and LEIA , and it was plan to mention the impact from afar . The primary objective lens of the mission , managed by the Italian Space Agency , were to watch over the uprise feather , catch icon of a likely impact crater , and observe the moonlet ’s opposite side .

LICIACube , short for Light Italian CubeSat for Imaging Asteroids , is in the process of downlinking 100 of images back to Earth , each of which requires processing and analysis . The first circle of image has been released , revealing striking details of the celestial encounter . The Double Asteroid Redirection Test , or DART , smashed into Dimorphos , a little moonlet orbit the larger Didymos asteroid , at 7:14 p.m. ET on Monday , in animportant first trial run of a planetary demurrer scheme . Neither object poses a menace to Earth .

LICIACube image showing the aftermath of the DART impact. The object at top is Dimorphos, while the object in the foreground is Didymos.

LICIACube image showing the aftermath of the DART impact. The object at top is Dimorphos, while the object in the foreground is Didymos.Image: ASI/NASA

Italian aerospace company Argotec design and built LICIACube , with contributions from the National Institute of Astrophysics and the Universities of Bologna and Milan . For the encounter , the probe produce no closer than 34 sea mile ( 55 kilometer ) from the target asteroid . image of the impingement show two object in the frame , the 520 - foot - wide ( 160 - measure ) moonlet and the 2,650 - foot - wide ( 780 - cadence ) Didymos . The two target are about 0.75 miles ( 1.2 km ) aside , while the organisation itself is 6.8 million mile ( 11 million kilometre ) from Earth .

Zoomed - in views of Dimorphos let out complex fibril of rubble kicked up from the encroachment . Planetary scientist , it ’s bonnie to say , will want to analyze this phenomena in detail , as it in all likelihood speaks to the effect kinetic impactors have on rubble batch asteroid — if that ’s what Dimorphos in reality is . Rubble raft asteroids , as the name suggests , are asteroids with free conglomerations of surface material , as opposed to asteroids with highly compact surfaces .

The nature of the disseminating impingement plumage will inform estimates about the object ’s structure and open material , while observations of the non - affect side will refine estimates about the moonlet ’s dimensions and mass . Scientists will then use this data to ameliorate their shock simulation models . Data assemble by ground- and space - base telescopes will similarly be used for this analysis .

A view of the impact, clearly showing the Didymos binary asteroid system.

A view of the impact, clearly showing the Didymos binary asteroid system.Image: ASI/NASA

We are now very much in the scientific discipline phase of the DART mission , as researchers ferment to understand the spacecraft ’s issue on the asteroid , both in terms of changes to surface and the degree to which its orbit around Didymos has changed , if any . These analyses could equip us with a next means for resist off a threatening asteroid .

More : Ground Telescopes Capture Jaw - Dropping Views of DART Asteroid Impact .

EarthMinor planetsOuter space

A zoomed-in view of the impact shows complex strands of ejecta stirred up the impact.