Asteroids

Scientists Find a Tiny Speck of Comet Inside a Meteorite

The little fragment found in Antarctica was protected from the elements and preserves the chemical signature of the early solar system

An artists concept of the Origins Spectral Interpretation Resource Identification Security - Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) spacecraft collecting a sample from the asteroid Bennu.

Asteroid Sample-Return Mission Arrives to Collect Primordial Rocks of the Solar System

As the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft arrives at its target asteroid Bennu, scientists on the ground prepare for a new bounty of planetary samples

An artist’s conception of a distant Solar System Planet X, which could be shaping the orbits of smaller extremely distant outer solar system objects like 2015 TG387.

New Discovery Stirs Up Signs of the Elusive Planet 9

A new minor planet called "the Goblin" is the second most distant known object in the solar system

Why Astronomers Want to Look for Earth's Mini-Moons

A new, powerful telescope in Chile will be able to detect tiny asteroid chunks circling our planet, which could be a goldmine for researchers

A view of the Perseid meteor shower over Northern Ireland in 2017.

Why This Year's Perseid Meteor Shower Promises to Be Especially Dazzling

Thanks to the moon’s conspicuous absence, those looking up at peak viewing hours will see 60-70 shooting stars every hour

Illustration of Sedna, a minor planet with an unusual orbit.

Is the Mysterious Planet Nine Just a Swarm of Asteroids?

Researchers investigate alternative explanations for wacky orbits of objects in our solar system

Megachirella, the mother-of-all-lizards (and snakes).

Oldest Lizard Fossil Shows These Reptiles Are The Ultimate Survivors

The 250-million-year-old specimen from the Alps suggests that lizards evolved before Earth's largest mass extinction—and thrived after it

The asteroid didn't just wipe out the dinosaurs—it wiped out the forests. Which meant anything that lived had to learn to live on the ground.

How the Ancestors of Birds Survived the Dino-Killing Asteroid

Forest cover was crucial to avian evolution, a new study on the mass extinction event asserts

Images of 2015 BZ509 captured by the Large Binocular Telescope Observatory.

Is This Backwards-Orbiting Asteroid an Interstellar Visitor?

The space rock could have been captured from another star system during the early days of our solar system

Asteroid 2010 WC9 as it appeared on May 15, 2018, at a distance of 453,600 miles.

An Asteroid Will Hurtle Past Earth Tonight in Close Flyby

While the space rock poses no danger to our planet, such a close pass is uncommon for asteroids of this size

Artist's concept of a near-Earth object.

An Unexpected Asteroid Buzzed by Earth Last Sunday

The space rock is one of the largest ever to come in such close proximity to our planet

70,000 Years Ago, a Passing Star Shook Up Our Solar System

The red dwarf likely came within one light-year of the sun, altering the course of some asteroids and comets

Earth and Moon seen from 3 million miles away on October 2, 2017.

Asteroid-Sampling Spacecraft Captures Haunting View of Earth in Space

OSIRIS-REx tested its cameras by taking a gorgeous photo of its home planet

Artists rendering of ‘Oumuamua

Unusual Interstellar Visitor Could Be Shard of Ice

A new study of ‘Oumuamua suggests it's water ice covered with 20 inches of dry carbon compounds

Geminids streak across the skies above the Alabama Hills. The approaching asteroid is thought to be the parent body of this annual meteor shower.

Three-Mile Wide Asteroid Will Zoom by Earth This December

But it will still be about 6.4 million miles away

Artist's rendering of 'Oumuamua

The First Interstellar Object Seen Buzzing by Earth Is Pretty Weird

Roughly the size of a football field, the object is roughly 10 times longer than it is wide

An artist's rendering of an asteroid striking Earth.

Dinosaurs Might Be Alive Today If the Asteroid Had Hit Another Location

Only a fraction of the Earth’s surface contained the right amount of hydrocarbons to trigger the mass extinction, a new study says

Artist's impression of 288P

Hubble Spots Strange Pair of Space Rocks in the Night Sky

The duo, dubbed 288P, may help scientists better understand asteroid evolution

An illustration envisioning how the satellite OSIRIS-REx will collect rocks from the asteroid Bennu

How a Satellite Just Used Earth Like a Slingshot

On its way to study an asteroid for clues about the origins of life, OSIRIS-REx got a little boost from Earth's gravity

Behind Saturn's icy rings is the moon Tethys, illuminated by the planet's reflected sunlight.

How Scientists Engineered Cassini’s Final Demise

After a rich scientific life, Cassini went out in a blaze, becoming one with the planet it had revolved around for so long

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