Tag Archive for 'Asteroid'

Researchers Discover New Type of Meteorite: Ost 65

Jun 16, 2016 by Enrico de Lazaro

A ‘fossil’ meteorite discovered in a limestone quarry in Sweden is unique and distinct from other known meteorites, according to a team of researchers...

Tiny impact spherule from Duffer Formation, Australia. Image credit: Andrew Glikson et al.

Earth Hit by 15-Mile-Wide Asteroid 3.5 Billion Years Ago, Evidence Indicates

May 17, 2016 by News Staff

An international team of scientists from South Korea and Australia has found evidence of a major asteroid impact that occurred approximately 3.5 billion...

Artist’s impression of C/2014 S3 (PanSTARRS). The comet’s current long orbital period (approximately 860 years) suggests that its source is in the Oort Cloud -- a large region surrounding the Sun like a giant, thick soap bubble -- and it was nudged comparatively recently into an orbit that brings it closer to the Sun. Image credit: M. Kornmesser / ESO.

Unique Rocky Comet from Oort Cloud May Provide Clues about Origin of Solar System

Apr 29, 2016 by News Staff

Observations of a tailless comet called C/2014 S3 (PanSTARRS), made with ESO’s Very Large Telescope and the Canada France Hawaii Telescope, show that...

This image of an impact crater in the Sirenum Fossae region of Mars was taken by NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter on March 30, 2015. The crater is approximately 3,300 feet (1-km) wide and appears relatively recent as it has a sharp rim and well-preserved ejecta. The steep inner slopes are carved by gullies and include possible recurring slope lineae on the equator-facing slopes. Image credit: NASA / JPL / University of Arizona / Alfred McEwen.

Comet, Asteroid Impacts 4 Billion Years Ago Likely Enhanced Life-Supporting Habitat on Mars

Apr 6, 2016 by News Staff

The bombardment of the Red Planet about 4 billion years ago (Noachian period) by giant comets and asteroids likely enhanced climate conditions enough to...

An artist’s impression of the debris disc around J1228+1040 (left) at the same scale as Saturn and its rings (right). While the star has about 7 times smaller diameter than Saturn, it has a mass 2,500 times greater. Image credit: Mark Garlick, www.markgarlick.com / University of Warwick / ESO / NASA / Cassini.

VLT Captures Image of Debris Disk around Nearby White Dwarf

Nov 11, 2015 by News Staff

The sight of a massive asteroid being ripped apart by a white dwarf called SDSS J122859.93+104032.9 (J1228+1040 for short) and forming a debris disk has...

This image of 2015 TB145 was generated using radar data collected by the Arecibo Observatory. Image credit: NAIC-Arecibo / NSF.

2015 TB145: Astronomers Capture Radar Images of ‘Halloween Asteroid’

Nov 1, 2015 by News Staff

Astronomers using NSF’s 1,000-foot (305-m) Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico have captured images of a massive asteroid – designated 2015 TB145...

This image shows the asteroid 2015 TB145 (small dot at center) as seen by a telescope at ESA’s Teide Observatory, Tenerife, Canary Islands. Image credit: ESA.

Asteroid 2015 TB145 Will Miss Earth, ESA Scientists Confirm

Oct 28, 2015 by News Staff

The asteroid 2015 TB145 – also known as the Great Pumpkin or the Halloween asteroid – will miss Earth on October 31, a team of scientists at...

This is an artist's impression of a rocky and water-rich asteroid being torn apart by the strong gravity of the white dwarf star GD 61. Image credit: Mark A. Garlick, Space-art.co.uk / University of Warwick / University of Cambridge.

NASA Astronomers Spot ‘Great Pumpkin’ Asteroid: 2015 TB145

Oct 22, 2015 by News Staff

An asteroid, designated 2015 TB145, will safely pass Earth on October 31 at 1:05 p.m. EDT (10:05 a.m. PDT, 17:05 UTC) by about 300,000 miles (482,800 km...

An artist’s illustration of a comet impact on Earth. Image credit: Don Davis / NASA.

New Study Reveals Link between Mass Extinction Events and Comet/Asteroid Showers

Oct 20, 2015 by News Staff

According to a study that will be published today in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, mass extinctions occurring over the...

ESA’s AIM spacecraft watches DART impact Didymoon. Image credit: ESA / Science Office.

AIDA: NASA and ESA Announce Double Mission to Asteroid Didymos

Oct 5, 2015 by News Staff

The Asteroid Impact & Deflection Assessment (AIDA) mission, a joint ESA-NASA cooperative project, will be the first space experiment to investigate...

Artist’s concept of NASA’s VERITAS spacecraft. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.

NASA Scientists Propose Missions to Venus, Asteroid Psyche, Near-Earth Objects

Oct 2, 2015 by News Staff

NASA scientists want to send small, low-cost space probes to study Venus, near-Earth objects, 16 Psyche and other asteroids. Artist’s concept of NASA’s...

Double Catastrophe Wiped Out Dinosaurs: Deccan Traps Volcanism and Chicxulub Impact

Oct 2, 2015 by News Staff

An international team of scientists from India and the United States has uncovered evidence that a massive comet or asteroid impact on Earth 66 million...

Artist’s conception of two meteorites striking Earth. Image credit: Don Dixon / Erik Sturkell / University of Gothenburg.

458-Million-Year-Old Twin Impact Craters Found in Sweden

Sep 11, 2015 by News Staff

A team of scientists from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, has found traces of two meteorite impacts in the Swedish county of Jämtland, a twin strike...

Comet Hitchhiker is a concept for orbiting and landing on comets and asteroids. The idea involves using a carbon nanotube tether to hitchhike on to a comet as it flies by. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / Cornelius Dammrich.

Comet Hitchhiker: New Concept for Orbiting, Landing on Comets and Asteroids

Sep 3, 2015 by News Staff

Researchers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) have devised a new way to get into orbit and land on Solar System’s small bodies. Comet Hitchhiker...

The asteroid 31 Euphrosyne glides across a field of background stars in this time-lapse view from NASA’s WISE spacecraft. WISE obtained the images used to create this view over a period of about a day around May 17, 2010, during which it observed the asteroid four times. The moving asteroid appears as a string of orange dots because it is much cooler than the distant background stars. Stars have temperatures in the thousands of degrees, but the asteroid is cooler than room temperature. Thus the stars are represented by shorter wavelength blue colors in this view, while the asteroid is shown in longer wavelength reddish colors. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.

Researchers Track Down Origins of Some Near-Earth Objects

Aug 6, 2015 by News Staff

A new study using data from NASA’s NEOWISE space telescope has traced some dark Near-Earth Objects (NEOs) back to their likely source – a family...

This collage of radar images of 1999 JD6 was collected by NASA scientists on July 25, 2015. The asteroid appears to be a contact binary. These views, which are radar echoes, were obtained by pairing NASA's 230-foot-wide Deep Space Network antenna at Goldstone, California, with the 330-foot Green Bank Telescope in West Virginia. Using this approach, the Goldstone antenna beams a radar signal at an asteroid and Green Bank receives the reflections. The technique, referred to as a bistatic observation, dramatically improves the amount of detail that can be seen in radar images. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / GSSR.

Astronomers Capture Radar Images of Near-Earth Asteroid 1999 JD6

Aug 4, 2015 by News Staff

Using NSF’s Green Bank Telescope in West Virginia and NASA’s Deep Space Network antenna at Goldstone, California, astronomers bounced radar signals...

Deposits of impact glass have been preserved in Martian craters, including Alga Crater, shown here. In color coding based on analysis of data from the CRISM instrument on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, green indicates the presence of glass; blues are pyroxene; reds are olivine. This view shows Alga Crater’s central peak, which is about 3 miles (5 km) wide within the 12-mile (19-km) diameter of this southern-hemisphere crater. The information from CRISM is shown over a terrain model and image based on observations by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera. The vertical dimension is exaggerated by a factor of two. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / JHUAPL / University of Arizona.

Scientists Detect Large Deposits of Impact Glass on Mars

Jun 9, 2015 by News Staff

Glasses formed by asteroid impacts are an important target to search for signs of ancient life on Mars, but until now they have not been detected on the...

Warburton East and West sub-basins, northeast South Australia; the Birdsville Track Ridge divides the Warburton East Basin from the Warburton West Basin. Image credit: A.Y. Glikson et al.

Giant Asteroid Impact Basin Found in Australia

Mar 23, 2015 by News Staff

A 400 km-wide (250 mile-wide) impact basin from a massive asteroid that broke in two moments before it slammed into our planet has been found in north-eastern...

This image shows the asteroid 2004 BL86 and its small companion. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / Sci-News.com.

Asteroid 2004 BL86 and its Moon Fly Safely Past Earth

Jan 27, 2015 by News Staff

Astronomers using NASA’s Deep Space Network antenna have captured the first radar images of asteroid 2004 BL86, which made its closest approach January...

Imilac, a pallasite meteorite found in the Atacama Desert, Chile, in 1822. Image credit: Juan Manuel Fluxa / CC BY 2.0.

Meteorites Contain Magnetic Messages from Early Solar System, Say Scientists

Jan 22, 2015 by News Staff

Researchers using the BESSY II synchrotron in Berlin, Germany have captured information stored in ancient meteorites, formed in the early Solar System...

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