Psyche – The Iron Giant of Asteroids – May Not Be What Scientists Expected
Scientists have thought that the asteroid Psyche could be a big ball of pure iron, but new research suggests it’s likely harboring a hidden rocky…
Asteroid
Trojan Asteroid That Will Follow Earth in Orbit for 4,000 Years Discovered After a Decade of Searching
An International team of astronomers led by researcher Toni Santana-Ros, from the University of Alicante and the Institute of Cosmos Sciences of the University of…
NASA State-of-the-Art Asteroid Tracking System Now Capable of Full Sky Search
The NASA-funded Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS)—a state-of-the-art asteroid detection system operated by the University of Hawai‘i (UH) Institute for Astronomy (IfA) for the…
Black Beauty: Shock Damage in Martian Zircon a “One-Off Gift” From Mars
Curtin University researchers studying a Martian meteorite have found the first evidence of high-intensity damage caused by asteroid impact, in findings that have implications for…
Existence of Earth Trojan Asteroid Confirmed – Could Become “Ideal Bases” for Advanced Exploration of the Solar System
Data from NSF’s NOIRLab Show Earth Trojan Asteroid Is the Largest Found The SOAR Telescope, part of NOIRLab’s Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, has helped astronomers…
We Already Have the Technology to Save Earth From a “Don’t Look Up” Asteroid
What if a 10 km (6.5 mile)-wide asteroid was on a bee-line towards Earth, with an impending, calamitous impact just six months away? This was…
Researchers Probe Earth’s Turbulent Past To Explain Where Oceans Came From
The origin of water on our planet is a hot question: Water has immense implications for plate tectonics, climate, the origin of life on Earth,…
Ancient Space Dust Analysis Could Solve Mystery of Origins of Earth’s Water
An international team of scientists may have solved a key mystery about the origins of Earth’s water, after uncovering persuasive new evidence pointing to an…
Computer Simulation Models Potential Asteroid Collisions – Results Provide Data for NASA Mission
Results to provide data for NASA’s upcoming Psyche mission. An asteroid impact can be enough to ruin anyone’s day, but several small factors can make…
Look Up and Watch a 1.1-km Asteroid Fly Past Earth Today – Here’s How
This week’s apparition of asteroid 1994 PC1 offers observers a chance to see a space rock moving in real time. In a slow moving universe,…
NASA Asteroid Watch: Keeping an Eye on Near-Earth Objects
Managed for NASA at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the Center for Near Earth Object Studies (CNEOS) accurately characterizes the orbits of all known near-Earth objects,…
Don’t Look Up: Several Asteroids Are Heading Towards Earth – Dealing With Real-Life Threats to Our Planet
Don’t look now – but we are currently experiencing a rash of stories about a forthcoming global catastrophe. But in a change from reports of…
Watching the Blink of a Star to Size Up “Trojan” Asteroids for NASA’s Lucy Mission
Gathering near Las Vegas recently, dozens of astronomers spread throughout the region, pointed their telescopes at the sky, and waited for the moment on October…
Size Doesn’t Matter: How Deadly a Meteorite Impact Is Depends on Rock Composition
A new study has found that the mineralogy of the rocks that a meteorite hits, rather than the size of the impact, determines how deadly…
We Asked a NASA Expert: Is NASA Really Crashing a Spacecraft Into an Asteroid? [Video]
We sure are — all in the name of planetary defense. The DART mission is a technology test to see if an impactor could change…
How NASA’s Psyche Mission Will Explore an Unknown World We Can Barely Pinpoint From Earth
Launching in August 2022 and arriving at the asteroid belt in 2026, NASA’s Psyche spacecraft will orbit a world we can barely pinpoint from Earth…
We Asked a NASA Scientist: What’s the Difference Between Asteroids, Comets and Meteors? [Video]
What’s the difference between asteroids, comets and meteors? These space rocks each have their own unique attributes. But differences aside, these fascinating objects are all…
We Asked a NASA Expert: When Was the Last Time an Asteroid Hit Earth? [Video]
When was the last time an asteroid hit Earth? Today! But it was almost definitely very small. Small asteroids and other tiny dust and particles…
