Nasa altered the orbit of an asteroid circling the Sun

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In 2022, Nasa crashed a spacecraft into a 160m-wide asteroid known as Dimorphos as it orbited the sun. It was designed to see whether space rocks on a collision course with the Earth could be knocked out of harm’s way, as part of a “planetary defence” system. New research shows the impact did more than alter the orbit of Dimorphos around a larger asteroid. It also changed the route the pair take around the Sun by enough to avert an Armageddon-style scenario. The study relied on volunteer astronomers, who tracked stellar occultations. These are brief moments when solar objects pass in front of distant stars, temporarily blocking light.