Human Interest

Asteroid debris from NASA crash could bring a ‘beautiful, luminous’ light show over Earth

By
Alex Mitchell
Published Aug. 23, 2024, 3:47 p.m. ET

Rock on.

Asteroid debris from a moonlet that was partially exploded by a NASA spacecraft could soar across the skies of Earth and create a stunning light show.

Rocket scientist Dr. Eloy Peña-Asensio, from the Polytechnic Institute of Milan, made the claim after studying the effects of the 2022 mission.

“Their [the rock pieces] small size and high speed will cause them to disintegrate in the atmosphere, creating a beautiful luminous streak in the sky,” the expert told Universe Today of the potential outcome.

A NASA mission may have created an meteor shower that will pass by Earth.
A NASA mission may have created a meteor shower that will pass by Earth. NurPhoto via Getty Images

The 2022 NASA mission saw one of the agency’s spacecraft deliberately collide with and reshape a small moonlet named Dimorphos, which orbited the much larger asteroid Didymos.

The project — known as the Double Asteroids Redirect Test or DART — was designed to examine whether scientists have the ability to adjust the orbit of an asteroid, should one ever threaten Earth.

Using data from the DART mission, the research team has published a yet-to-be peer-reviewed paper on what appears to be happening to the debris.

The asteroid Dimorphos was captured by NASA's DART mission just two seconds before the spacecraft struck its surface on Sept. 26, 2022.
The moonlet Dimorphos was captured by NASA’s DART mission just two seconds before the spacecraft struck its surface on Sept. 26, 2022. NASA/Johns Hopkins APL
A planetary defense mission may have created a new meteor shower to pass by both Mars and the Earth.
Artist rendering of the NASA Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) space probe approaching Dimorphos. Future Publishing via Getty Images

The scholars say that debris from the collision could float on in space for years before traveling by both Mars and Earth.

Early speculations predict that it will fly over the red planet in about 13 years.

Meanwhile, the scientists believe it could be up to 30 years before the debris soars over Earth — but it a meteor show could ensue, putting on quite the show.