Meteor shower created by Nasa to hit Earth in 13 years

Rocky debris blasted from Dimorphos asteroid flown into by agency’s spacecraft could now be on collision course

Debris from Nasa’s asteroid deflection mission is hurtling towards Earth and is expected to create the first man-made meteor shower within the next 13 years, scientists have predicted.
In September 2022, the US space agency crashed a spacecraft into the asteroid Dimorphos in the first planetary defence experiment aimed at finding ways to protect humanity from an extinction-level event.
The impact released a storm of boulders, debris and other small particles some of which could now be on a collision course with Earth.
The storm of shooting stars that it could create is likely to be visible around May 2037.
Dr Eloy Peña-Asensio, the study lead author, of the Department of Aerospace Science and Technology at the Polytechnic University of Milan, said: “We identified ejecta orbits compatible with the delivery of meteor-producing particles to both Mars and Earth.
“Our results indicate the possibility of ejecta reaching the gravitational field of Mars in 13 years for launch velocities around 450m/s, while faster ejecta launched at 770 m/s could reach its vicinity in just seven years.
“Particles moving above 1.5km/s could reach the Earth-Moon system in a similar timescale.”
He added: “In the coming decades, meteor observation campaigns will be crucial in determining whether fragments of Dimorphos, resulting from the impact, will reach our planet. If this happens, we will witness the first human-made meteor shower.”
The asteroid deflection mission was the first attempt to alter the movement of a celestial body and prove that it is possible to change the course of any future doomsday space rock threatening to obliterate Earth.
The historic test, which was likened to the plot of the Hollywood movie Armageddon, involved sending a $325 million (£247.6 million) spacecraft called Dart (Double asteroid redirection test) on a 10-month kamikaze journey.
Dimorphos, which was about the size of one of the Great Pyramids of Giza, was chosen because it posed little threat to Earth.
The asteroid is part of a binary system and orbits a larger mountain-sized asteroid called Didymos. Although the system is technically classified as potentially hazardous, it is still six million miles away from Earth and unlikely to pose a threat in the near future.
Early studies suggested that the Dart mission was a success, with the impact causing the orbit of Dimorphos to slow by about 0.1 inches per second.
But it was estimated that about 1,000 tons of debris were blasted away, enough to fill 60 train carriages.
The very largest of these meteoroids would only be the size of a cricket ball and would be certain to burn up in Earth’s atmosphere, although experts said they might make it through the thinner atmosphere of Mars.
Whether the meteoroids head towards Earth or Mars depends on their position in the impact plume. Material on its north side is more likely to head Mars-ward while south-western material is more likely to reach Earth, experts predicted.
Scientists said only smaller particles are likely to reach Earth, because these are the ones that would have been launched at the highest speeds.
Meteor showers usually occur when Earth passes through the debris field of a comet. For example, the Perseid meteor shower, which lights up skies in August, is caused by the aftermath of comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle.
The European Space Agency (ESA) is planning an in-depth study of the aftermath of the impact with its Hera mission, due to launch in October and scheduled to reach Dimorphos by Christmas 2026.
“The Dart impact offers a rare opportunity to investigate the delivery of ejecta to other celestial bodies,” said Michael Kueppers, Esa Hera mission scientist and co-author of the new research.
“The exciting thing is the prospect of identifying and observing meteors linked to the Dart impact, either on Earth or perhaps one day even on Mars, with their brightness and colour revealing details of their makeup.
“The potential meteors created by Dart would be slow-moving, primarily visible from the southern hemisphere, and most likely to occur in May.”
The research is published in the journal Planetary Science.