Asteroids (Page 2)

Latest in Asteroids

A top-down view of the OSIRIS-REx Touch-and-Go-Sample-Acquisition-Mechanism (TAGSAM) head with the lid removed, revealing the remainder of the asteroid sample inside. The picture was taken using manual high-resolution precision photography and a semi-automated focus stacking procedure. The result is an image that can be zoomed in on to show extreme detail of the sample. The remaining sample material includes dust and rocks up to about 0.4 inch in size.

Scientists find traces of life’s building blocks in historic asteroid samples

An artistic representation of an active centaur like Chiron. The different colors in the coma indicate varying compositions of gas, ice, and dust.

An ‘oddball’ asteroid-comet hybrid dates back 4.6 billion years

By Laura Baisas

Still from Armageddon (1998).

What Hollywood gets wrong—and surprisingly right—about saving the world from killer asteroids

By Robin Andrews

The Winchcombe meteorite sits on display at the Natural History Museum on May 13, 2021 in London, England. The meteorite is a rare type, the first to fall in 30 years.

When a meteor smashes into your driveway

By Robin Andrews

Z Machine operating at Sandia National Laboratories

Could nukes deflect an asteroid? ‘X-ray scissors’ offer scientists clues.

Illustration of the cases where one impulse Δv = 10−1 m s−1 from a small asteroid impact has been applied to Apophis.

Astrophysicist predicts (slightly) higher chance for major asteroid impact in 2029

Martian meteorite

Just 5 impacts on Mars sent hundreds of meteorites to Earth

A rare visitor, a Mandarin Duck, showed up in Central Park, New York City in 2018.

Why are there so many birds?

By Lauren Leffer

NASA asteroid concept

How often do asteroids come near Earth?

By Briley Lewis

Concept art of asteroid entering planet's atmosphere

What would we do if an asteroid slammed Earth on July 12, 2038?

Mars might have an asteroid problem

By Briley Lewis