Breaking

Webb Telescope Spots a Small Asteroid From 62 Million Miles Away - Gizmodo
Feb 06, 2023 53 secs
One of the solar system’s 1.1-million-plus asteroids was recently spotted by the Webb Space Telescope, from a distance of about 62 million miles.

Asteroids can be 600 miles wide, according to Britannica, and the newly spotted one is among the smallest ever detected in the main belt.

Webb and the Hubble Space Telescope both observed the aftermath of the DART impact, showing that the space-based observatories can see such small bodies.

“We — completely unexpectedly — detected a small asteroid in publicly available MIRI calibration observations,” said Thomas Müller, an astronomer at the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics in Germany, in an ESA release.

“This is a fantastic result which highlights the capabilities of MIRI to serendipitously detect a previously undetectable size of asteroid in the main belt,” said Bryan Holler, Webb support scientist at the Space Telescope Science Institute, in the ESA release.

Given that Webb was designed to see clear across the universe, to some of the oldest light we can see, it is a marvel that it can also view objects so small as well.

RECENT NEWS

SUBSCRIBE

Get monthly updates and free resources.

CONNECT WITH US

© Copyright 2024 365NEWSX - All RIGHTS RESERVED