Tag Archive for 'Asteroid'

An artist concept of the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft. Image credit: NASA / Goddard.

NASA Launching Probe to Asteroid Bennu: Watch Live

Sep 8, 2016 by News Staff

An artist concept of the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft. Image credit: NASA / Goddard. NASA’s Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith...

Close Encounters between Centaurs and Gas Giants Form Our Solar System’s ‘Pinky Rings’

Aug 19, 2016 by James Romero

Our gas giants strip the icy surface off minor planets to form miniature versions of Saturn’s famous rings throughout the outer solar system, according...

A false-color image of the narrow opal rim surrounding a bright metallic mineral inclusion in the Antarctic meteorite EET 83309; the circular holes in this image are spots where laser analyses have been performed. Image credit: Hilary Downes et al.

Scientists Find Tiny Pieces of Opal in Meteorite

Jun 29, 2016 by Enrico de Lazaro

Small pieces of the mineral opal have been found within a brecciated ureilite meteorite from Antarctica. According to a team of scientists led by Prof....

Asteroid 2016 HO3 has an orbit around the Sun that keeps it as a constant companion of our planet. This is an artist’s impression of an asteroid. Image credit: Mark A. Garlick, Space-art.co.uk / University of Warwick / University of Cambridge.

Asteroid 2016 HO3 is Earth’s Quasi-Satellite, NASA Astronomers Say

Jun 16, 2016 by Natali Anderson

According to astronomers at NASA’s Center for Near-Earth Object (NEO) Studies, a near-Earth asteroid designated 2016 HO3 is currently following a stable...

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...

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