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Surface Image of Dimorphos

Image of boulders on the surface of asteroid Dimorphos as seen by DART prior to impact.

This is the last complete image of the asteroid Dimorphos, as seen by NASA's DART (Double Asteroid Redirection Test) impactor spacecraft two seconds before impact. The Didymos Reconnaissance and Asteroid Camera for Optical navigation (DRACO) imager aboard captured a 100-foot-wide patch of the asteroid. The DART spacecraft streamed these images from its DRACO camera back to Earth in real time as it approached the asteroid. DART successfully impacted its target on September 26, 2022.

About the Object

  • Dimensions
    DimensionsThe physical size of the object or the apparent angle it subtends on the sky.
    The image shows a patch of the asteroid that is 100 feet (31 meters) across

About the Data

  • Instrument
    InstrumentThe science instrument used to produce the data.
    DART> DRACO Imager
  • Exposure Dates
    Exposure DatesThe date(s) that the telescope made its observations and the total exposure time.
    26 Sept 2022
  • Object Name
    Object NameA name or catalog number that astronomers use to identify an astronomical object.
    Dimorphos
  • Object Description
    Object DescriptionThe type of astronomical object.
    Image of Dimorphos taken 2 seconds before impact
  • Release Date
    July 20, 2023
  • Science Release
    Hubble Sees Boulders Escaping from Asteroid Dimorphos
    Read the release
  • Credits
    NASA, APL

Downloads

  • 985 × 985
    tif (1.26 MB)
  • 985 × 985
    png (951.21 KB)

Related Images & Videos

Against a black background, the bright white object at lower left is the asteroid Dimorphos. It has a bluish dust tail extending diagonally to the upper right. A cluster of blue dots surround the asteroid. These are boulders that were knocked off the asteroid when, on September 26, 2022, NASA deliberately slammed the half-ton DART impactor spacecraft into the asteroid as a test of what it would take to deflect some future asteroid from hitting Earth. Hubble photographed the slow-moving boulders with the Wide Field Camera 3 in December 2022. The color results from assigning a blue hue to the monochromatic (grayscale) image.

Hubble Photographs Boulders Flung Off Asteroid Dimorphos

This Hubble Space Telescope image of the asteroid Dimorphos was taken on December 19, 2022, nearly four months after the asteroid was impacted by NASA's DART mission (Double Asteroid Redirection Test). Hubble's sensitivity reveals a few dozen boulders knocked off the asteroid by...

Against a black background, the image of the asteroid Dimorphos, with compass arrows, scale bar, and color key for reference. The bright white object at lower left is Dimorphos. It has a blue dust tail extending diagonally to the upper right. A cluster of blue dots (marked by white circles) surrounds the asteroid. These are boulders that were knocked off the asteroid when, on September 26, 2022, NASA deliberately slammed the half-ton DART impactor spacecraft into the asteroid as a test of what it would take to deflect some future asteroid from hitting Earth. Hubble photographed the slow-moving boulders with the Wide Field Camera 3 in December 2022. The color results from assigning a blue hue to the monochromatic (grayscale) image.

Hubble Photographs Boulders Flung Off Asteroid Dimorphos (Compass Image)

Image of the asteroid Dimorphos, with compass arrows, scale bar, and color key for reference. The north and east compass arrows show the orientation of the image on the sky. Note that the relationship between north and east on the sky (as seen from below) is flipped relative to...

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Details

Last Updated
Mar 10, 2025
Contact
Media

Claire Andreoli
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, Maryland
claire.andreoli@nasa.gov

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