NASA | Swift and Hubble Probe an Asteroid Crash
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Late last year, astronomers noticed that an asteroid named Scheila had unexpectedly brightened and it was sporting short-lived plumes. Data from NASA’s Swift satellite and Hubble Space Telescope show that these changes likely occurred after Scheila was struck by a much smaller asteroid. On Dec. 11, 2010, images from the University of Arizona’s Catalina Sky Survey, a project of NASA’s Near Earth Object Observations Program, revealed the Scheila to be twice as bright as expected and immersed in a faint comet-like glow. Looking through the survey’s archived images, astronomers inferred the outburst began between Nov. 11 and Dec. 3. Three days after the outburst was announced, Swift’s Ultraviolet/Optical Telescope (UVOT) captured multiple images and a spectrum of the asteroid. Ultraviolet sunlight breaks up the gas molecules surrounding comets; water, for example, is transformed into hydroxyl (OH) and hydrogen (H). But none of the emissions most commonly identified in comets — such as hydroxyl or cyanogen (CN) — show up in the UVOT spectrum. The absence of gas around Scheila led the Swift team to reject scenarios where exposed ice accounted for the activity. Images show the asteroid was flanked in the north by a bright dust plume and in the south by a fainter one. The dual plumes formed as small dust particles excavated by the impact were pushed away from the asteroid by sunlight. Hubble observed the asteroid’s fading dust cloud on Dec. 27, 2010, and Jan. 4, 2011. The two …
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23 Comments
June 7th, 2011 at 7:57 pm
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June 7th, 2011 at 8:36 pm
Nice!
June 7th, 2011 at 9:09 pm
Shame they missed the opportunity to point out that asteroid belts, or ours at least, are nowhere near as incredibly dense as Star Wars portrayed, it’s more like the chances of getting hit by a rock is 3,720 to 1 against. We’ve already sent about ten probes through the belt without any problem.
June 7th, 2011 at 10:07 pm
Great video – love it! Thanks.
I had heard earlier in an astronomy mag item that a tail or coma had been found around Schelia and that suggested the asteroid was really a comet in disguise. hadn’t heard this part – awesome.
June 7th, 2011 at 10:36 pm
@cloudanu Religion is the reason why we can’t afford to take you into space to prove it to you. 500b a year on war? Caused by religion.
June 7th, 2011 at 11:06 pm
@cloudanu Shut up, troll.
June 7th, 2011 at 11:06 pm
Space doesn’t exist. Don’t let these people mislead you. Believe in god.
June 7th, 2011 at 11:17 pm
“Stay on target!”
“We’re too close!”
“Stay on Target!”
*KABOOOOM!*
June 7th, 2011 at 11:20 pm
@kirox777 because if u look at all the other stuff we know…it seems like nothing but i do believe they just noticed it i am just surprised at why they just noticed it now.
June 8th, 2011 at 12:11 am
STORYAHEEE
June 8th, 2011 at 12:28 am
@Shift4chizzle why?… no one has noticed it b4, big deal. not so hard to believe
June 8th, 2011 at 12:31 am
yeah right, i dont believe we are just noticing that
June 8th, 2011 at 1:15 am
Amazing discovery….great animation too. Gives you the feeling of actually witnessing the collision. Looking forward to seeing more videos like this…
Two thumbs up guys!!!
June 8th, 2011 at 1:22 am
STAR WARS!!! That is the best franchise ever!
June 8th, 2011 at 1:27 am
Thanks to Hubble and Swift, we are beginning to see these events which are CRUCIALLY important to understand.
This is an appropriate use of technology, far better than wasteful excessive military spending which only serves to foment more wars for profit.
Thanks to this video, people learn what science can do. Knowledge and human progress is a noble and important goal. But this is even more dramatic since it can help us learn to survive cosmic collisions through awareness & preparation.
June 8th, 2011 at 1:56 am
@CounterNerd “In our astroid belt.”
June 8th, 2011 at 2:11 am
Things like this happen every year? Do you mean in this solar system? Because seeing how wide space is, it probably happens more often. Just a thought however.
June 8th, 2011 at 2:52 am
More science please! Love those episodes
June 8th, 2011 at 2:58 am
Very cool.
June 8th, 2011 at 3:44 am
100 kilotons?
Is that all?
lol
Wow.
June 8th, 2011 at 3:53 am
*Speechless*
June 8th, 2011 at 4:51 am
great video, love the intro!
June 8th, 2011 at 5:21 am
awesome!