DARK MATTER
After the technical feat, now it’s up to the scientists to find out if their mission was successful
The world watched in anticipation as NASA’s DART (Double Asteroid Redirection Test) spacecraft intentionally crashed last Monday, September 26, into Dimorphos, the small moon of the two-asteroid system: the first planetary defense mission was all exit. Or, at least, he fulfilled his goal of hitting a target comparable to trying to hit a mosquito 70 kilometers away.
After the technical feat, it is now up to the scientists to find out if their main objective, which was to divert Dimorphos from its orbit around the larger asteroid, called Didymos, has been successfully achieved. And for this, several ‘eyes’ will be pending in the coming months to analyze the possible new trajectory of the space rock that has served as a ‘guinea pig’ to test the technology that could be key to divert a possible object that is heading directly towards Earth.
One such ‘eye’ is the 4.1-meter Southern Astrophysical Research Telescope (SOAR), at NSF’s NOIRLab’s Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile. Two days after impact, astronomers Teddy Kareta (Lowell Observatory) and Matthew Knight (US Naval Academy) used this instrument to capture the large plume of dust and debris thrown up from the asteroid’s surface.
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