Hubble Telescope Spots Asteroids Photobombing Distant Galaxies
Like rude relatives who jump in front of your vacation snapshots of landscapes, some of our solar system’s asteroids have photobombed deep images of the…
Asteroid
A Small Object (A/2017 U1) from Deep Space Enters Our Solar System
Astronomers reveal that a small, recently discovered asteroid — or perhaps a comet — has entered our solar system from somewhere else in our galaxy….
Asteroid 2012 TC4 Will Safely Pass By Earth, Just Above Communications Satellites
On October 12, asteroid 2012 TC4 will safely pass by Earth at a distance of approximately 26,000 miles (42,000 kilometers). Passing by the Earth at…
Large Near-Earth Asteroid Florence to Pass Earth on September 1
The large near-Earth asteroid named Florence will safely pass by Earth on September 1, 2017, at a distance of about 4.4 million miles (7.0 million…
SwRI Astronomers Identify the Oldest Known Asteroid Family
Scientists developed a technique to identify ancient asteroid families, revealing the oldest known asteroid family in the inner region of the main asteroid belt. Southwest…
Massive Asteroid Impact Could Explain Martian Geological Mysteries
A newly published study reveals that a colossal impact with a large asteroid is a likely cause for the mysterious features found on Mars. The…
NASA Researchers Simulate Life-Threatening Asteroid Impacts
Using the Pleiades supercomputer, NASA scientists are simulating asteroid impacts to help identify possible life-threatening events. When an asteroid struck the Russian city of Chelyabinsk…
NASA Releases Latest Survey Data from NEOWISE Asteroid-Hunting Spacecraft
NASA’s Near-Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (NEOWISE) mission has released its third year of survey data, with the spacecraft discovering 97 previously unknown celestial…
Near-Earth Asteroid 2014 JO25 Set to Fly Past Earth on April 19
Discovered nearly three years ago, the relatively large near-Earth asteroid 2014 JO25 is set to fly safely past Earth on April 19 at a distance…
New NASA Mission Will Visit Metal Asteroid 16 Psyche
NASA has announced a new mission that will send an unmanned spacecraft to a large asteroid in the primary asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter….
Asteroid 2013 TX68 to Pass Earth on March 5
Asteroid 2013 TX68 (which flew past Earth at a comfortable distance of about 1.3 million miles two years ago) will safely fly by our planet…
VLT Maps Out the Shattered Remains of an Asteroid Around a White Dwarf
Using the Very Large Telescope, an international team of astronomers has studied in detail for the first time the remains of a fatal interaction between…
Updated Radar Images Provide New Details on Asteroid 2015 TB145
Astronomers captured new highest-resolution radar images of asteroid 2015 TB145 when it flew by Earth this past Halloween. The highest-resolution radar images of asteroid 2015…
“Skull Shaped” Asteroid 2015 TB145 Will Flyby Earth This Halloween
Just in time for Halloween, a large space rock that bears an eerie resemblance to a skull will zip past Earth this weekend. Scientists observing…
Small Asteroids Completely Shattered the Moon’s Upper Crust
Using data from NASA’s Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory, astronomers mapped the gravity field in and around more than 1,200 craters on the far side…
NASA Comet Hitchhiker Would Take Tour of Small Asteroids and Comets
Comet Hitchhiker is in Phase I study through the NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts Program. Its goal is to use the kinetic energy of comets and…
NASA Dismisses Rumor, States “There is No Asteroid Threatening Earth”
In an effort to dispel rumors of an impending asteroid impact on Earth, NASA has stated, “There is no scientific basis — not one shred…
Asteroid 1999 FN53 to Flyby Earth on Thursday
Asteroid 1999 FN53 will safely flyby Earth on May 14 at a distance of no less than 6.3 million miles. An asteroid, designated 1999 FN53,…