Asteroids

When an asteroid struck Earth about 66 million years ago, it wiped out some 80 percent of the planet's animals, including all of the non-avian dinosuars.

Asteroid That Ended the Dinosaurs Came From Beyond Jupiter, Study Finds

Metal isotopes delivered to Earth by the asteroid reveal it's consistent with space rocks formed in the outer solar system

An artist's illustration of the WISE spacecraft in orbit around Earth. The mission was renamed NEOWISE in 2013 to reflect a new focus on finding near-Earth objects.

NASA Retires Orbiting Telescope That Charted Asteroids for Over a Decade

NEOWISE, which looked for potentially hazardous objects in the solar system, received its last command on Thursday and will burn up when it re-enters Earth's atmosphere

The tinfoil-covered vial at right holds about four grams of an asteroid brought to Earth from deep space. It may also hold the key to how life began here. The vial at left holds ground-up quartz that will act as a control in chemical investigations.

Inside Scientists’ Quest to Find the Secrets of Life in Four Grams of Asteroid Dust

NASA researchers are scrutinizing rocks and dirt brought to Earth from the asteroid Bennu

Rainforests, like this one in Ecuador, only appeared after the mass extinction that ended the Age of Dinosaurs.

No, Dinosaurs Did Not Trudge Through Thick Rainforests

The first jungles dense with flowering plants only formed after an asteroid impact wiped out the giant creatures

Asteroid impacts and volcanism have led to mass extinctions on our planet.

Has Life on Earth Survived More Than Five Mass Extinctions?

Scientists aren’t just arguing whether humans are causing a sixth mass extinction event now, but whether many more occurred in the past

The European Space Agency's Planetary Defense Office tracks and observes near-Earth objects passing by our planet, such as those shown in this illustration. 

Two Massive Asteroids Will Fly Past Earth This Week. Here's What to Know

Within 42 hours of each other, the pair of large asteroids, which both have no chance of impacting our planet, will approach Earth as they orbit the sun

The Milky Way spreads across the night sky above the Vera C. Rubin Observatory. 

This Revolutionary New Observatory Will Locate Threatening Asteroids and Millions of Galaxies

Beginning next year, the Vera C. Rubin Observatory will use the world’s largest digital camera to give us a whole new view of the universe

An angled view of the solar system with main asteroid belt discoveries in green and near-Earth objects in light blue.

Scientists Discover 27,500 Asteroids in Old Telescope Images Using A.I.

While most of the team’s new finds are located in the main asteroid belt, about 100 are near-Earth asteroids that pass close to our planet's orbit

An illustration of the DART spacecraft next to the asteroid, Dimorphos, and the larger asteroid it orbits, Didymos.

Asteroid Hit by NASA Spacecraft Was Reshaped by the Collision, Study Finds

Instead of forming a crater, the agency's intentional DART crash redistributed massive amounts of the asteroid and shot large quantities of rock into space

Data from the retired Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA), a joint venture between NASA and the German Space Agency, led scientists to their discovery.

Scientists Detect Water on the Surface of Asteroids for the First Time Ever

Using data from a retired NASA mission, researchers identified unique signs of water molecules on two space rocks, unlocking new insight into how water may have arrived on Earth

Researchers pose with a fragment of asteroid 2024 BX1 they found in Germany. The rock is a very rare type of meteorite called an aubrite.

A 'Very Rare' Kind of Space Rock Fell in Germany—and Scientists Recovered the Pieces

Analyses revealed the asteroid was an “aubrite,” a classification that applies to only 80 of 70,000 previously found meteorite fragments

The open canister with the sample collected from the asteroid Bennu inside. Scientists hope the sample can help them better understand planet formation and the origin of life on Earth.

NASA Finally Opens Canister Holding Asteroid Sample—See What They Found

It took several months for the researchers to remove two stuck fasteners, which required them to design new tools

Advances in artificial intelligence and dinosaur discoveries were just some of the major science stories this year.

The Ten Most Significant Science Stories of 2023

From an asteroid sample that was delivered to Earth to a discovery about human migration from North America, these were the biggest moments of the year

The consellation Orion and other stars in the sky in Alberta, Canada, in 2019.

An Asteroid Will Eclipse a Red Star in the Constellation Orion Monday Night

In the U.S., the rare event will only be visible from southern Florida, but it will be livestreamed from Italy for viewers everywhere

The Geminids appear to originate from the Gemini constellation, but you can see them throughout the night sky.

How to Watch the Geminid Meteor Shower This Week

The celestial spectacle will peak on December 13 and 14, lighting up the night sky with as many as 120 shooting stars per hour

The OSIRIS-REx sample return capsule (foreground) landed in the Utah desert on September 24, carrying samples collected from the near-Earth asteroid Bennu (background). 

How NASA Captured Asteroid Dust to Find the Origins of Life

The sample of the space rock Bennu that OSIRIS-REx collected could unlock an ancient existential mystery

The asteroid sample that is now on display at the National Museum of Natural History. By studying the retrieved space rocks, scientists aim to better understand how water and organic material first arrived on Earth.

How to See NASA's Bennu Asteroid Sample in Person

A tiny piece of the space rock made its public debut at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, as scientists study the rest of the sample

The pair of asteroids, captured by NASA's Lucy spacecraft on November 1, 2023, from around 270 miles away.

NASA Finds a Surprise Second Asteroid During a Flyby Mission

While testing its tracking system, the agency's Lucy spacecraft discovered that Dinkinesh is not one space rock, but two

Dust from the Chicxulub impact may have plunged the planet into a cold, dark winter and halted photosynthesis.

Dust May Have Triggered the Global Winter That Killed the Dinosaurs

A new study, based on modeling, suggests fine silicate particles could have blocked sunlight and shut down photosynthesis across the globe

An artist's rendition of the Pysche asteroid. Data suggests that Psyche is between 30 and 60 percent metal, unlike any object in the solar system scientist's have observed up close before.

NASA Launches Mission to Study Distant Asteroid

The metal-rich object could hold clues about how our planet formed

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