NASA's DART space probe "turned" an asteroid into a comet with a tail 10,000 km long

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and astronomers from other organizations continue to share the results of a test of the planetary defense system that was tested nearly two weeks ago.

Here's What We Know

In late September, the Double Asteroid Rendezvous Test (DART) probe collided with the asteroid Dimorphos to shift its orbit. As a result of the impact, the asteroid began to resemble a comet. This was reported by American astronomers.

Specialists with the help of the Southern Astrophysical Research Telescope were able to fix the plume of fragments, which were formed after the collision of the asteroid with the DART probe. The Goodman High Throughput Spectrograph determined that the tail is about 10,000 km long.

Astronomers will continue to monitor the asteroid. Scientists want to learn the nature of the surface of the space body and plan to determine how much matter was ejected as a result of the impact of Dimorph with DART.

Source: NOIRLab