Asteroids
Earth Gains 5,200 Tons of Dust From Space Every Year
Whenever I wipe the dust off my coffee table or catch a glimpse of dust motes floating in sunlight, my…
OSIRIS-REx Did One Last Close Flyby of Asteroid Bennu. It’s Almost Time to Come Home
After more than two years in orbit around asteroid Bennu, NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft is ready to come home. It's bringing…
Primordial Asteroids That Never Suffered Massive Collisions all Seem to be Larger Than 100 km. Why?
The early asteroids had a similar size, and this could be due to turbulence in the early solar system.
Careful Calculations Show That Earth is Safe From Asteroid Apophis for at Least 100 Years
If you're looking for doomsday, you can forget about asteroid Apophis. The latest radar observations have effectively ruled out any…
Organic Material Found on an Asteroid Sample Returned by Hayabusa 1
Panspermia is an idea that has been around for a long time. It was first mentioned in the 5th century…
Dust in the Chixalub Crater Makes the Compelling Case That an Asteroid Wiped out the Dinosaurs 65 Million Years ago
For decades scientists have believed that an asteroid impact event ended the era of the dinosaurs 66 million years ago.…
Jupiter has Added a Comet to its Trojan Collection
Jupiter is notorious for capturing objects that venture too close to the gas giant and its enormous pull of gravity.…
Jupiter’s Trojan Asteroids Offer Surprises Even Before NASA’s Lucy Mission has a Chance to Visit Them.
A new study out this month suggests that Jupiter's Trojan asteroids may be more peculiar than previously thought. The Trojan…
OSIRIS-REx is Heading for Home in May
The OSIRIS-REx team decided to delay the spacecraft’s departure from asteroid Bennu for two months. The departure window opens in…
Here’s the Asteroid Hayabusa2 is Going to be Visiting Next
Check out this image of asteroid 1998 KY26 from the Subaru Telescope. It's not exactly beautiful, but it's not intended…