Webb Dimorphos (NIRCam)

Stsci_2022-047b_1024

stsci_2022-047b September 28th, 2022

Credit: NASA, ESA, C.A Thomas, STScI

This image from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope’s Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) instrument shows Dimorphos, the asteroid moonlet in the double-asteroid system of Didymos, about 4 hours after NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) made impact. A tight, compact core and plumes of material appearing as wisps streaming away from the center of where the impact took place, are visible in the image. Those sharp points are Webb’s distinctive eight diffraction spikes, an artifact of the telescope’s structure.

These observations, when combined with data from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, will allow scientists to gain knowledge about the nature of the surface of Dimorphos, how much material was ejected by the collision, and how fast it was ejected.

In the coming months, scientists will use Webb’s Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) and Near-Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec) to observe Dimorphos further. Spectroscopic data will also provide researchers with insight into the asteroid’s chemical composition.

The observations shown here were conducted in the filter F070W (0.7 microns) and assigned the color red.

NIRCam was built by a team at the University of Arizona and Lockheed Martin’s Advanced Technology Center.

Provider: Space Telescope Science Institute

Image Source: https://webbtelescope.org/contents/news-releases/2022/news-2022-047

Curator: STScI, Baltimore, MD, USA

Image Use Policy: https://www.stsci.edu/copyright

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Image Details

Image Type
Observation
Object Name
DART Dimorphos
Subject - Solar System
Interplanetary Body > Asteroid

Position Details

Position (ICRS)
RA = 0h 0m 0.0s
DEC = 0° 0’ 0.0”
Constellation
Pisces

Color Mapping

  Telescope Spectral Band Wavelength
Red Webb (NIRCam) Infrared 700.0 nm
Spectrum_base
Red
Stsci_2022-047b_1280
×
ID
2022-047b
Subject Category
A.2.3  
Subject Name
DART, Dimorphos
Credits
NASA, ESA, C.A Thomas, STScI
Release Date
2022-09-28
Lightyears
Redshift
Reference Url
https://webbtelescope.org/contents/news-releases/2022/news-2022-047
Type
Observation
Image Quality
Good
Distance Notes
Dimorphos was about 6.8 million miles (11 million kilometers) from Earth at the time of DART's impact.
Facility
Webb
Instrument
NIRCam
Color Assignment
Red
Band
Infrared
Bandpass
Central Wavelength
700
Start Time
Integration Time
Dataset ID
Notes
Coordinate Frame
ICRS
Equinox
2000.0
Reference Value
0, 0
Reference Dimension
Reference Pixel
Scale
Rotation
Coordinate System Projection:
Quality
Position
FITS Header
Notes
Creator (Curator)
STScI
URL
https://www.stsci.edu/
Name
Space Telescope Science Institute Office of Public Outreach
Email
outreach@stsci.edu
Telephone
410-338-4444
Address
3700 San Martin Drive
City
Baltimore
State/Province
MD
Postal Code
21218
Country
USA
Rights
https://www.stsci.edu/copyright
Publisher
STScI
Publisher ID
stsci
Resource ID
STSCI-J-p22047b-f-1447x1122.tif
Metadata Date
2022-09-29T11:15:34-04:00
Metadata Version
1.2
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Detailed color mapping information coming soon...

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There is no distance meta data in this image.

 

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