Plate Nº 56 · recorded November 9, 2026
Space & AstronomyReported finding
Hera’s first close look reveals Didymos after DART impact
ESA’s Hera probe has imaged Didymos and a sliver of Dimorphos after NASA’s DART impact, revealing boulders, craters and grooves while confirming a 33-minute orbital change.
By Priya Raman3 min read626 words
In brief
- DART hit Dimorphos on Sept. 26, 2022, shortening its orbital period by about 33 minutes.
- Before the collision, Dimorphos completed one orbit in about 11 hours 55 minutes and now travels 2.7 millimeters per second more slowly.
- Didymos spans about 2,560 feet (780 meters), while Dimorphos measures about 530 feet (160 meters) across.
- ESA released Hera’s first close-up Didymos image on Nov. 5, 2026.
- Impact-ejected material may have crossed approximately 1 kilometer (0.62 miles) between the bodies, and Hera will map changes across both.
Priya Raman
The DART impact shortened Dimorphos’s orbit by about 33 minutes, and the European Space Agency’s Hera probe has now delivered its first close-up look at the altered Didymos asteroid system.
Patrick Michel, Hera’s principal investigator, reacted to the new image with a simple statement. “The first thing we said was, ‘Wow!’” he said in an ESA release on Thursday, Nov. 5. “This is the other side of Didymos from the one that DART’s camera showed us shortly before impact, so this feels like looking at a whole new world.”
ESA released the photograph on Nov. 5, and Space.com selected it for its space photo of the day on Nov. 6, 2026. Didymos fills most of the frame in detailed view. A sliver of Dimorphos appears below and slightly to the left of the larger asteroid.
What did NASA’s DART mission change?
DART, short for Double Asteroid Redirection Test, deliberately struck Dimorphos on Sept. 26, 2022. The mission tested whether a controlled impact could divert an asteroid from a collision course with Earth. More specifically, the spacecraft sought to change the smaller body’s orbital period, the time required for one lap around the larger asteroid.
Before the impact, Dimorphos completed a lap in around 11 hours and 55 minutes. The collision shortened that period by roughly 33 minutes. Dimorphos now moves about 2.7 millimeters per second more slowly than it did before, accounting for its shorter orbit.
The Didymos system is a binary asteroid system, meaning two rocky bodies that orbit a common center. Its dimensions are:
- Didymos, the larger body, measures about 2,560 feet (780 meters) across.
- Dimorphos, its smaller moonlet, or orbiting companion, measures about 530 feet (160 meters) in diameter.
The September 2022 collision produced a measurable test of asteroid deflection, the effort to alter an object’s path before it reaches Earth.
What does Hera’s new image reveal?
The newly released photograph shows Didymos in close detail, and scientists are already identifying changes on and around the system. The observed changes include multiple boulders, craters, and patterns of grooves or ridges. Didymos still has the same central ridge along its equator that it had before DART’s impact.
Hera’s observations should help establish what other changes occurred on and around Didymos. The source of the new surface features remains unsettled because material thrown from one asteroid may have reached the other.
Michael Kueppers, ESA’s Hera mission scientist, expects a large amount of impact-ejected material—rock and dust thrown out by a collision—to have crossed the approximately 1 kilometer (0.62 miles) between the bodies. Some characteristics may therefore have originated from that transfer rather than forming in place on Didymos.
Kueppers described “exciting work ahead” to determine the causes. He also said:
“We look forward to seeing much more of both bodies and systemically mapping all the changes we identify.”
The early findings therefore document a clear orbital change while leaving the origin of some surface features unresolved. Continued observations of both asteroids should provide the evidence needed to distinguish transferred material from other modifications.
Could a 33-minute change divert an asteroid?
The DART-induced shift was small, but ESA notes that even a tiny change could help divert an asteroid on a collision course with Earth. That benefit depends on receiving enough advance warning to assess the object and attempt a change in its path.
Hera’s role extends beyond one photograph. By observing Didymos after the impact, the mission should document the collision’s consequences and reveal what else changed within the system. The first close look has confirmed the measurable orbital shift and opened a detailed investigation of what else DART altered.
via space.com (Source)
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Senior reporter covering people, launches and day-to-day practice in general science news at SciBeat.
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