Hera Reveals a New Close-Up of the Didymos Asteroid System

The European Space Agency's Hera mission has returned its first close-up image of the Didymos asteroid system. Taken from roughly 60 kilometres away, the image clearly shows the larger asteroid, while its companion Dimorphos is mostly hidden in shadow.

NASA deliberately crashed its DART spacecraft into Dimorphos in September 2022. The impact shortened the smaller body's orbit around Didymos by approximately 33 minutes, demonstrating that a spacecraft could measurably alter an asteroid's motion.

Hera will investigate the consequences of that collision to improve understanding of asteroid deflection. The mission team plans to release detailed images of both bodies on November 25; the investigation's final findings are not yet available.