asteroids

Exploration Labs has proposed the first commercial deep space ride share mission, known as Apophis EX, to rendezvous with potentially hazardous asteroid Apophis.

A giant asteroid is approaching, and researchers say this kind of encounter almost never happens. What they expect to observe could reveal something entirely new about how these objects behave in space.

A meteor cluster reveals an asteroid disintegrating near the Sun. These observations help uncover hidden asteroids and explain how space objects break apart. Scientists use global camera networks to study meteors, revealing how dust and debris from comets and asteroids behave and evolve in the solar system. A 2026 study identified a new meteor cluster [...]

Samples of Ryugu returned to Earth by the Hayabusa2 spacecraft show that the asteroid bears the scars of a recent bombardment by tiny space rocks.

An asteroid slammed into the North Sea at hypervelocity. The impact would have sent a massive plume skyward and unleashed a tsunami over 100 meters (330 feet) high.

NASA’s Lucy spacecraft visited the asteroid 52246 Donaldjohanson on April 20, 2025, coming within 600 miles (920 kilometers) of the object located in the inner region of the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.  The asteroid was named after the paleontologist Donald Johanson, who in 1974 co-discovered the first identified example of previously unknown type Continue reading "April 20, 2025: Vis…

Rubin’s largest asteroid haul yet, gathered before the Legacy Survey of Space and Time even begins, is just the “tip of the iceberg”

Understanding the beginning of the solar system requires us to look at some very strange places. One such place is at the so-called “Trojan” asteroids that share Jupiter’s orbit in front of and behind it. But for a long time, these cosmic time capsules have held a mystery for astronomers: why are they color-coded? The populations of larger asteroids are very clear split into two distinct groups -…

Earth has recently traversed a trail of cosmic debris left behind by a disintegrating asteroid, a Nasa researcher has warned. Dr Patrick Shober, based at Nasa's Johnson Space Centre, analysed millions of meteor sightings and discovered a distinct grouping of 282 shooting stars all appearing to originate from an identical location in space. The rocky fragments represent the remnants of what scient…

Scientists have uncovered a hidden asteroid crumbling near the sun, revealing new meteor streams and shedding light on asteroid behavior in our solar system.

BONUS PART STARTS AT 37:54 Watch here (with no ads and a bouns part) or on YouTube: https://youtu.be/JMP7N_Dkga0 In the recent years we found out that a lot of asteroids are rubble piles. And we will be finding more of them. But it appears that Phobos might have a lot of characteristics of rubble piles. Which could have some really interesting consequences. 🟣 Guest: Dr. Harrison Agrusa https://ha…

A rare stargazing spectacle will unfold on Friday, April 13, 2029, as the asteroid Apophis passes closer than satellites over Europe and Africa in a true once-in-a-lifetime event.

Understanding how asteroidal and cometary debris evolves and travels through the inner Solar System is critical for predicting impact risks and maintaining the safety of orbital infrastructure. Particles of all sizes and sources pose significant hazards to satellites operating in near-Earth and cislunar space. As such, modeling and analyzing how small asteroidal and cometary particles evolve over…

Breaking space news, the latest updates on rocket launches, skywatching events and more! You are now subscribed Your newsletter sign-up was successful Want to add more newsletters? Early observations from the Vera C. Rubin Observatory have already revealed more than 11,000 previously unknown asteroids, reshaping our view of the solar system and offering a striking preview of what's to come once f…

A single early dataset from the Vera C. Rubin Observatory has revealed more than 11,000 new asteroids, marking one of the most significant leaps in solar system discovery in decades, as reported in findings published in collaboration with the International Astronomical Union’s Minor Planet Center. A Discovery Rate That Redefines Astronomy The scale and speed of this discovery are unlike anything …

Astronomers using the Vera C. Rubin Observatory have discovered over 11,000 new asteroids, including hundreds of trans-Neptunian objects and 33 previously unknown near-Earth asteroids. The new dataset from the Vera C. Rubin Observatory comprises approximately one million observations, taken over the span of a month and a half, of over 11,000 new asteroids and more than 80,000 already known astero…

Scientists studying samples from the asteroid Bennu have uncovered a surprisingly complex chemical landscape at the tiniest scales. A new study shows that, at an extremely small scale, organic material and minerals inside the asteroid Bennu are organized into three clearly different chemical groupings. These patterns provide important clues about how liquid water once altered [...]

Astronomers have spotted a massive asteroid rotating at an unbelievable speed, challenging our understanding of asteroid dynamics and material composition.

The Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile has spotted the fastest-rotating large asteroid ever seen. Despite measuring more than half a kilometre across, this asteroid spins about once every 1.9 minutes – a speed once thought to be impossible. Dmitrii Vavilov at the University of Washington in Seattle and his colleagues found this asteroid, along with several other surprisingly speedy rotators, in t…

A close look inside Bennu’s rocks revealed an unexpected clue that changed the story. One of the most unexpected findings of NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission was the true nature of Bennu. Instead of showing many smooth areas, as earlier Earth-based observations had suggested, the asteroid turned out to be a harsh, uneven world littered with large [...]