Tag Archive for 'Asteroid'

This image of the asteroid Ryugu was captured by the Optical Navigation Camera - Telescopic (ONC-T) on JAXA’s Hayabusa-2 spacecraft on June 26, 2018, from a distance of 13.7 miles (22 km). Image credit: JAXA / University of Tokyo / Kochi University / Rikkyo University / Nagoya University / Chiba Institute of Technology / Meiji University / Aizu University / AIST.

Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Asteroids Predate Our Solar System, New Study Shows

Dec 22, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Astronomical observations show that polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are abundant and widespread in the interstellar medium. PAH molecules consist...

Psyche’s first images make up this mosaic showing a starfield in the constellation of Pisces. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / ASU.

NASA’s Psyche Spacecraft Beams Back Its First Images

Dec 6, 2023 by News Staff

Already 26 million km (16 million miles) from Earth, NASA’s Psyche spacecraft will arrive at its target asteroid Psyche in 2029. The Psyche team wanted...

This image, captured by the Lucy Long-Range Reconnaissance Imager (L’LORRI) onboard NASA’s Lucy spacecraft, shows the main-belt asteroid Dinkinesh and its moonlet. This image was taken at 12:55 p.m. EDT (16:55 UTC) on November 1, 2023, within a minute of closest approach, from a range of approximately 430 km (270 miles). Image credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center / SwRI / Johns Hopkins APL / NOIRLab.

Lucy Shows Its Flyby Target Dinkinesh is Actually Binary Asteroid

Nov 4, 2023 by News Staff

On November 1, NASA’s Lucy spacecraft flew by not just its first asteroid — the small main-belt asteroid (152830) Dinkinesh — but its first...

This painting depicts an asteroid slamming into tropical, shallow seas of the sulfur-rich Yucatan Peninsula in what is today southeast Mexico. The aftermath of this immense asteroid collision, which occurred approximately 65 million years ago, is believed to have caused the extinction of the dinosaurs and many other species on Earth. Shown in this painting are pterodactyls, flying reptiles with wingspans of up to 50 feet, gliding above low tropical clouds. Image credit: Donald E. Davis / NASA.

Study: Asteroid Impact-Generated Dust Played Key Role in Dinosaur-Killing Mass Extinction

Oct 31, 2023 by News Staff

About 66 million years ago, a massive asteroid crashed into Earth near the site of the small town of Chicxulub in what is now Mexico. The impact eradicated...

This false-color image shows the dwarf planet Ceres. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / UCLA / MPS / DLR / IDA.

Planetary Researchers Probe Origin of Complex Organics on Ceres

Oct 17, 2023 by News Staff

How aliphatic organic compounds originated on the dwarf planet Ceres has been the subject of intensive research since their discovery by NASA’s Dawn...

A view of the outside of the OSIRIS-REx sample collector. Sample material from asteroid Bennu can be seen on the middle right. Image credit: NASA / Erika Blumenfeld / Joseph Aebersold.

Sample Material from Asteroid Bennu Contains Carbon and Water, NASA Scientists Say

Oct 11, 2023 by News Staff

The sample was collected by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification and Security, Regolith Explorer) spacecraft...

The sample return capsule from NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission is seen shortly after touching down in the desert, September 24, 2023, at the Department of Defense’s Utah Test and Training Range. Image credit: NASA / Keegan Barber.

Sample Return Capsule from NASA’s OSIRIS-Rex Mission Lands Successfully in Utah

Sep 25, 2023 by News Staff

OSIRIS-Rex’s capsule containing precious samples from the near-Earth asteroid (101955) Bennu landed safely in a targeted area of the Department of Defense’s...

This image of the main-belt asteroid Dinkinesh was captured by NASA’s Lucy spacecraft on September 5, 2023. The brightest star in this field of view is HD 34258, a 7.6 magnitude star in the constellation of Auriga that is too dim to be seen by the naked eye from Earth. At this distance, Dinkinesh is only 19 magnitude, about 150,000 times fainter than that star. Image credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center / SwRI / Johns Hopkins APL.

Lucy Sends Back Its First Images of Main-Belt Asteroid Dinkinesh

Sep 12, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

The small main-belt asteroid (152830) Dinkinesh was recently added to NASA’s Lucy mission and will be the first fly-by target on November 1, 2023. This...

This Hubble image of Dimorphos was taken on December 19, 2022, nearly four months after the asteroid was impacted by NASA’s DART mission. Dimorphos has a blue dust tail extending diagonally to the upper right. A cluster of blue dots surrounds the asteroid. These are boulders that were knocked off the asteroid. Image credit: NASA / ESA / D. Jewitt, UCLA.

Hubble Spots Swarm of Boulders around Asteroid Dimorphos

Jul 24, 2023 by News Staff

On September 26, 2022, NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) intentionally slammed into the 160-m-wide asteroid moonlet Dimorphos — which...

Marchi et al. compared the early impact history of Venus and Earth, determining that Venus experienced higher-energy impacts creating a superheated core. Image credit: Southwest Research Institute.

Early, Energetic Collisions Could Have Fueled Venus Volcanism: Study

Jul 20, 2023 by News Staff

New research shows that long-lived volcanism, driven by early, energetic collisions on Venus, offers an explanation of its young surface age with stagnant-lid...

This image, taken with Webb’s Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI), shows the dusty debris disk surrounding Fomalhaut A. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / A. Gáspár, University of Arizona / A. Pagan, STScI.

Webb Images Three Debris Belts around Fomalhaut A

May 9, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

New high-resolution images of the Fomalhaut A system from the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope show three debris belts extending out to 23 billion...

This illustration depicts the asteroid Phaethon being heated by the Sun. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / IPAC.

Comet-Like Tail of Near-Earth Asteroid Phaethon is Not Made of Dust, Astronomers Say

Apr 25, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

New research shows that Phaethon’s comet-like activity cannot be explained by any kind of dust. This illustration depicts the asteroid Phaethon being...

An artist’s concept of a Neptunian Trojan asteroid. Image credit: NASA / ESA / G. Bacon, STScI / C. Fuentes, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.

Neptunian Trojan Asteroids Exist in Broad Spectrum of Red Color, Astronomers Find

Mar 29, 2023 by News Staff

Neptunian Trojans are trans-Neptunian objects in 1:1 mean-motion resonance with the ice giant Neptune. These asteroids are generally thought to have been...

Oba et al. report the detection of uracil, one of the four nucleobases in ribonucleic acid, in aqueous extracts from Ryugu samples. Image credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center / JAXA / Dan Gallagher.

Scientists Find Vitamin B3 and Uracil in Samples from Asteroid Ryugu

Mar 22, 2023 by News Staff

An international team of researchers has detected nicotinic acid (also known as vitamin B3 or niacin) and uracil, one of the four nucleobases in ribonucleic...

This artist’s illustration shows the ejection of a cloud of debris after NASA’s DART spacecraft collided with the asteroid Dimorphos. Image credit: ESO / M. Kornmesser.

VLT Observes Aftermath of Collision between DART and Dimorphos

Mar 21, 2023 by News Staff

On September 26, 2022, NASA’s DART spacecraft collided with the asteroid Dimorphos in a controlled test of our asteroid deflection capabilities. The...

This Hubble image captures the breakup of Dimorphos when it was deliberately hit by DART on September 26, 2022. Image credit: NASA / ESA / STScI / Jian-Yang Li, PSI / Joseph DePasquale, STScI.

DART Offers Insight into How Deflection Missions Can Protect Earth from Hazardous Asteroids

Mar 2, 2023 by News Staff

On September 26, 2022, NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) intentionally slammed into the 160-m-wide asteroid moonlet Dimorphos — which...

New Study Sheds Light on Origin and Evolution of Ceres-Like Asteroids

Feb 21, 2023 by News Staff

Astronomers using NASA’s Infrared Telescope Facility (IRTF) telescope at Mauna Kea Observatory have captured and analyzed visible and near-infrared reflectance...

This collage shows six planetary radar observations of 2011 AG5 a day after the asteroid made its close approach to Earth on February 3, 2022. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.

Very Oblong Asteroid Safely Flew Past Earth This Month

Feb 17, 2023 by News Staff

Stunning radar images of the near-Earth asteroid 2011 AG5 were obtained from January 29 to February 4, 2022, by the powerful 70-m (230-foot) Goldstone...

An artist’s impression of an irregularly-shaped asteroid. Image credit: N. Bartmann, ESA & Webb / ESO / M. Kornmesser / S. Brunier / N. Risinger, skysurvey.org.

Webb Discovers New Asteroid in Solar System’s Main Belt

Feb 7, 2023 by News Staff

The newly-discovered asteroid is less than 230 m (755 feet) across, and orbits within the main asteroid belt, which is located between Mars and Jupiter. An...

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.

Small Asteroid Flew Safely Past Earth This Week

Jan 27, 2023 by News Staff

A small near-Earth asteroid designated 2023 BU made its closest approach on January 26, 2023 at 7:29 p.m. EST (4:29 p.m. PST, or January 27, 2023 at 00:29...

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