Asteroids
The Curious History of the Geminid Meteors
UPDATE: Tune in this Sunday as the good folks over at the Virtual Telescope Project feature a live webcast covering…
Fear Not: Quarter-Mile Asteroid Is No Threat To Earth, NASA Says
Before assuming an asteroid is going to kill us all, take a deep breath and open up the NASA's Near…
Don’t Miss the Geminids this Weekend, Best Meteor Shower of the Year
Wouldn't it be nice if a meteor shower peaked on a weekend instead of 3 a.m. Monday morning? Maybe even showed good…
Japan Successfully Launches Hayabusa 2 Asteroid Sample Return Mission
Japan successfully launched their Hayabusa-2 sample return mission to asteroid 1999 JU3, and JAXA reports the spacecraft is on course…
Observing Challenge: How to See Asteroid Hebe, Mother of Mucho Meteorites
In the reeds that line the banks of the celestial river Eridanus, you'll find Hebe on the prowl this month. Discovered in 1847…
Watch Asteroids Whiz by the Earth-Moon System This Week as First Steps Toward Asteroid Exploration Leave the Launch Pad
It’s a dangerous universe out there, for a budding young space-faring species. Killer comets, planet sterilizing gamma ray bursts, and…
Observing Challenge: Watch Asteroid 3 Juno Occult a +7th Magnitude Star Tonight
One of the better asteroid occultations of 2014 is coming right up tonight, and Canadian and U.S. observers in the…
Amazingly Detailed New Maps of Asteroid Vesta
Vesta is one of the largest asteroids in the Solar System. Comprising 9% of the mass in the Asteroid Belt,…
The Origins of Life Could Indeed Be “Interstellar”
Some of science's most pressing questions involve the origins of life on Earth. How did the first lifeforms emerge from…
OSIRIS-REx: The Audacious Plan To Scoop An Asteroid And Fly Back To Earth
We've been super-excited about the Philae landing recently, the first soft landing on a comet. But imagine if the spacecraft…