Hubble spots swarm of boulders around asteroid after NASA's DART impact

NASA's DART spacecraft successfully impacted the asteroid Dimorphos to change its orbit around Didymos.
The collision released over 1,000 tons of material, including a swarm of 37 boulders between 3-22 feet wide spotted by Hubble.
The boulders were likely shaken loose from Dimorphos' surface and are slowly drifting away at 0.5 mph.
The DART impact changed Dimorphos' orbital period by 33 minutes, demonstrating an effective planetary defense strategy.
Upcoming missions like ESA's Hera will further study the asteroids and examine the DART crater to optimize kinetic impactors.