NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test mission, which took place nearly two years ago and successfully changed the trajectory of the Dimorphos asteroid,
may have unintentionally set the stage for the first human-produced meteor shower.
A new study published in The Planetary Science Journal suggests that millions of fragments produced by the collision could be on a trajectory to near Earth, causing a potentially unique meteor shower.
The fragments pose no danger to the planet as most pieces are estimated to be less than four inches in length but are traveling at around 3,000 mph.
If any of the estimated three million pieces were to venture close to Earth, it is likely they would burn up in the atmosphere and not even amount to the size needed to create the appearance of a shooting star.
Simulations indicate that some pieces could whiz by Earth in about seven years, but the main display could take decades or longer to arrive.
Larger particles exhibit a marginally greater likelihood of reaching Mars, while smaller particles favor delivery to Earth-Moon, although this effect is insignificant.
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