In our previous study, we showed that if Didymos was a rubble pile made of boulders that are only held together by their gravitational attraction, it would not be stable at its current spin rate with an estimated nominal density of 2170 kg/m³,” says Yun Zhang, Université Côte d’Azur, Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur and CNRS Lagrange Laboratory (UCA, OCA, CNRS), Nice, France.

To investigate this mystery, Yun and colleagues, used advanced supercomputer simulations to spin the asteroid apart. Then, Brian May and his collaborator, Claudia Manzoni from the London Stereoscopic Company, made stereo 3D movies of the disruption event.