Asteroids

What Are Your Options When you’ve Only Got Hours or Days to Prevent an Asteroid Impact?

Imagine a scenario where we detect an asteroid heading straight for Earth. Imagine that it will arrive in a couple…

3 years ago

NASA’s Mission to Visit 8 Asteroids, Lucy, Launches on October 16th

An early morning launch is planned for the Lucy spacecraft, the first space mission to study Jupiter’s Trojan asteroids. Tomorrow,…

3 years ago

Images of 42 of the Biggest Asteroids in the Solar System

A huge team of astronomers have combined forces to use the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (ESO’s VLT) to…

3 years ago

You Can Blow Up an Asteroid Just a few Months Before it Hits Earth and Prevent 99% of the Damage

So far, the battle between life on Earth and asteroids has been completely one-sided. But not for long. Soon, we'll…

3 years ago

This Object is Both an Asteroid and a Comet

In astronomy, comets and asteroids are defined very differently.  Comets have a “nucleus,” usually made of ice and dust, and…

3 years ago

There are Many Metal-Rich Asteroids Nearby to Investigate

Usually, when the topic of asteroid mining comes up, thoughts turn to the riches of the asteroid belt between Mars…

3 years ago

3,600 Years ago, a 50-Meter-Wide Meteor Exploded in the Sky and Destroyed a City Near the Dead Sea

An archeological dig has uncovered evidence of a massive cosmic airburst event approximately 3,600 years ago that destroyed an entire…

3 years ago

Why are Rubble Pile Asteroids Shaped Like Diamonds?

Scientists are fortunate enough to have detailed, close-up views of the near-Earth asteroids Bennu and Ryugu. Both asteroids have a…

3 years ago

What Formed the Strange Troughs on Vesta?

New research suggests that the humble asteroid Vesta may have cracked open like an egg. (more…)

3 years ago

An Asteroid has Been Discovered That Crosses Mercury’s Orbit

Astronomers have spotted the fastest-ever asteroid orbiting Sun -- and at times, it gets closer to the Sun than the…

3 years ago