Asteroids
Ants Farmed Fungi in the Wake of Dinosaurs’ Demise 66 Million Years Ago
A new study from Smithsonian scientists analyzes ant and fungus species, and uncovers the origins of their close partnership
Earth Is Getting a New 'Mini Moon' for the Next Two Months, Astronomers Say
A roughly 33-foot-long asteroid called 2024 PT5 will chart a horseshoe-like path around our planet
Did Earth Once Have a Ring Like Saturn? Geologists Find Evidence for a Halo of Orbiting Space Rocks 466 Million Years Ago
A ring could explain a mysterious arrangement of impact craters near the equator and might even have caused an ice age, according to a new study
An Ancient Asteroid Smashed Into Jupiter's Moon Ganymede and Tipped It Over, Study Finds
The cataclysmic impactor was 20 times the size of the rock that wiped out the dinosaurs on Earth
Asteroid That Ended the Dinosaurs Came From Beyond Jupiter, Study Finds
Metal isotopes delivered to Earth by the asteroid reveal it's consistent with space rocks formed in the outer solar system
NASA Retires Orbiting Telescope That Charted Asteroids for Over a Decade
NEOWISE, which looked for potentially hazardous objects in the solar system, received its last command on Thursday and will burn up when it re-enters Earth's atmosphere
Inside Scientists’ Quest to Find the Secrets of Life in Four Grams of Asteroid Dust
NASA researchers are scrutinizing rocks and dirt brought to Earth from the asteroid Bennu
No, Dinosaurs Did Not Trudge Through Thick Rainforests
The first jungles dense with flowering plants only formed after an asteroid impact wiped out the giant creatures
Has Life on Earth Survived More Than Five Mass Extinctions?
Scientists aren’t just arguing whether humans are causing a sixth mass extinction event now, but whether many more occurred in the past
Two Massive Asteroids Will Fly Past Earth This Week. Here's What to Know
Within 42 hours of each other, the pair of large asteroids, which both have no chance of impacting our planet, will approach Earth as they orbit the sun
This Revolutionary New Observatory Will Locate Threatening Asteroids and Millions of Galaxies
Beginning next year, the Vera C. Rubin Observatory will use the world’s largest digital camera to give us a whole new view of the universe
Scientists Discover 27,500 Asteroids in Old Telescope Images Using A.I.
While most of the team’s new finds are located in the main asteroid belt, about 100 are near-Earth asteroids that pass close to our planet's orbit
Asteroid Hit by NASA Spacecraft Was Reshaped by the Collision, Study Finds
Instead of forming a crater, the agency's intentional DART crash redistributed massive amounts of the asteroid and shot large quantities of rock into space
Scientists Detect Water on the Surface of Asteroids for the First Time Ever
Using data from a retired NASA mission, researchers identified unique signs of water molecules on two space rocks, unlocking new insight into how water may have arrived on Earth
A 'Very Rare' Kind of Space Rock Fell in Germany—and Scientists Recovered the Pieces
Analyses revealed the asteroid was an “aubrite,” a classification that applies to only 80 of 70,000 previously found meteorite fragments
NASA Finally Opens Canister Holding Asteroid Sample—See What They Found
It took several months for the researchers to remove two stuck fasteners, which required them to design new tools
The Ten Most Significant Science Stories of 2023
From an asteroid sample that was delivered to Earth to a discovery about human migration from North America, these were the biggest moments of the year
An Asteroid Will Eclipse a Red Star in the Constellation Orion Monday Night
In the U.S., the rare event will only be visible from southern Florida, but it will be livestreamed from Italy for viewers everywhere
How to Watch the Geminid Meteor Shower This Week
The celestial spectacle will peak on December 13 and 14, lighting up the night sky with as many as 120 shooting stars per hour
How NASA Captured Asteroid Dust to Find the Origins of Life
The sample of the space rock Bennu that OSIRIS-REx collected could unlock an ancient existential mystery
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