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We have a shuttle in outer space, orbiting and asteroid and beaming back data and images. Still seems pretty incredible.
The meteorite only lives as it is falling.
The small asteroid also seems to be emanating streams of gas that may explain why it was moving faster than it was supposed to.
Phosphates forged in space made their way to Earth on comets and asteroid.
You can see how the sun moves across the asteroid's horizon.
This could give insights on the birth of the Earth, and even the solar system.
The moon is Earth's only permanent natural satellite, but it may be in the company of tiny asteroids trapped in the planet's orbit.
Asteroids have families too.
It's the "small" asteroids that we really need to be preparing for.
We don't know much about how life bounces back after such a dramatic event.
An elusive planet ten times more massive than Earth may be lurking in the outer fringes of the solar system.
I don't think any wall can keep this guy out.
How did it get there?
Ever wondered where the water you drink truly comes from?
Close call!
We're still learning much from our interstellar visitor.
A strange visitor from interstellar space came to visit. It might teach us a thing or two about the universe.
Dinosaurs had a 9/10 chance they'd make it -- but they drew the short straw.
Put the kettle on, we have a visitor.
Asteroids of a feather flock together. Sometimes into a comet.
That spot is not a lake in cold, snow-covered Canada.
Make sure to wave as it passes by.
The scientific value might be just as high.
Geologists are getting an unprecedented glimpse into the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs.
NASA is preparing for a potentially game-changing mission: intercepting an asteroid and bringing a sample back home.
A team of researchers is investigating the Chicxulub crater, of the asteroid that wiped the dinosaurs (and many other creatures) some 65,5 million years ago. Now, they've set out to Reddit to answer all our questions
NASA scientists have taken grainy images of a peculiar asteroid nicknamed the "Space Peanut". The asteroids measures 1.2 miles across and made its closest approach at 7.2 million kms from Earth - 19 times closer than the Moon.
It almost looks like a sci-fi movie; in a small, crammed room at the Goddard Space Flight Center, a group of brilliant NASA researchers are discussing ways to protect our planet from dangerous asteroids. But this is not a movie, it’s reality – and it’s happening now. So how big is the threat from asteroids? Spoiler […]
It almost sounds too cheesy to be true: NASA wants to send a shuttle to an asteroid, pluck a piece of it, then make it return to the Moon and orbit it. Then, brave astronauts will go and retrieve the sample, bringing it back to Earth for study. But that's exactly what astronomers and engineers at the space agency want to do.
Australian researchers have uncovered what might be the biggest impact asteroid impact zone in the world – at over 400 kilometers (250 miles)! Naturally, the crater isn’t visible today, but geophysicists have found the impact’s scars deep below the surface. Lead researcher Dr Andrew Glikson from the ANU School of Archaeology and Anthropology explains: “The two asteroids […]
As you might remember, a few days ago we were telling you about the fantastic success of the Rosetta mission – a spacecraft launched by the European Space Agency which orbited a comet and sent landed a probe on it. Now, we already have the first result: Earth’s water probably didn’t come from comets. Did […]
A piece of rock traveling at at 61,000 km/h punched a crater 40 metres wide on the surface of the Moon, producing a flash that could be seen from Earth. I feel like Hollywood can ruin your expectations when talking about huge meteoritic impacts – we’re dealing with a meteorite here that’s way smaller than […]
This oddball cosmic body, called P/2013 P5, has puzzled astronomers for a while. By mass and orbit, it can only be classed as an asteroid, but the fact that it trails gas or dust would make it a comet. In fact, this weird rock has six tails, which would maybe make it a supercomet! Researchers at […]
For the first time, researchers have found evidence of a comet entering Earth’s atmosphere and exploding, obliterating everything in its path before ultimately crashing down into the Sahara. Comets and asteroids Many people will probably be asking themselves “Didn’t we find comet evidence on Earth before?”. No, not really – if you did wondeer that, […]
The current leading theory that explains the mass extinction of the dinosaurs – once the dominant group of animals on Earth for millions of years – states that an asteroid impact some 65 million years ago brought their demise, wiping them out along with 70% of all life on the planet. A new study, however, […]
There are millions of asteroids in our solar system. Be them the size of France or a small bus, these space rocks can be found through out the solar system, and have recently become the subject of entrepreneurial discussions, since even a single medium-sized asteroid is thought to carry trillions of dollars worth of rare […]
The European Space Agency just announced the asteroid they chose for an upcoming controlled crash landing of one of their spacecraft. The objective? Well, more or less, they just want to see what happens. The Asteroid Impact and Deflection Assessment (AIDA) mission will intercept the asteroid, called Didymos, in 2022, when the asteroid gets within […]
I realize we’re maybe bugging some of you with these constant asteroid/meteor pieces here on ZME Science, but for what’s it worth we found this recently released NASA video comprised of radar images during 2012 DA14’s recent flyby very interesting. The movie, which combines 73 radar-images captured over the course of eight hours on the […]
The weekend that has just passed was a tight one for asteroid news. At the center was of course the much raved about “2012 DA14” – the closest asteroid of this significant size to flyby Earth since recorded history – which actually speared passed Earth at an altitude of 27,700km, a few thousand kilometers below the […]
Tonight a historical event is about to occur after an asteroid half the size of a football field, called “2012 DA14”, is set to make the closest flyby to Earth any asteroid of its kind has ever made, since we know of. NASA along with all the other space programs in the world positively dismiss […]
The (still debated) asteroid that slammed into the Earth 65 million years ago and played a crucial role in wiping dinosaurs out, may have actually been a binary system- 2 asteroids engaged in an orbit around each other. Double trouble The surprising claim comes from analyzing the proportion of asteroid craters on Earth that were […]
That’s what NASA officials have been telling the press recently, at least. If you haven’t heard yet, a football field-sized asteroid called 2012 DA14 is expected to come buzzing past Earth later this month, making it, in NASA’s own words, a ‘record-setter’ in terms of asteroid proximity. The asteroid will pass so closely by Earth […]
Close, but not too close – an asteroid like that can crash on our planet every 1200 years, but there’s no reason to worry, even though it will make a flyby on February 15, passing at a distance of only 26.780 km. For comparison, the distance to the Moon varies from around 356,400 km to […]
Deep Space Industries (DSI), a private space ventures company, has recently announced plans of launching a fleet of asteroid-prospecting spacecraft set to touch base with near-Earth space rocks. The small sized, light weight spacecraft would analyze and sample asteroids for those rich enough in resources like fuel, water and rare minerals. The first launch is scheduled […]
The cold, lifeless Vesta asteroid might be a lot more like our planet than astronomers believed – having a very active life in the early stages of the solar system evolution, a study of a Saharan meteorite shows. The planet that wasn’t Vesta might host a magmatic layer under its rocky exterior, allowing minerals to […]
Due to a “closer” approach of asteroid Apophis this month of just 40 Earth-Moon distances, astronomers were able to get a better glimpse of the much talked about asteroid in order to better understand it. Thomas Müller of the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics in Garching, Germany, who is leading the analysis of the […]
An ambitious project is currently being considered by NASA consisting of capturing and dragging a small-scale asteroid into the moon’s orbit. This would allow for a valuable footing where asteroid research might become a lot more accessible, one of NASA’s main objectives for the upcoming decades. The proposition has been made by the Keck Institute for […]
You’ve seen it on the news, so you know it’s true. Your 8 o’clock special news report showcases in a Mayan Apocalypse special a computer simulation of a massive meteor or asteroid impacting Earth causing world doom. There’s no mention anywhere in any Mayan records or myths that the end of the Mayan calendar is […]
Between Oct. 28 and Oct. 30, NASA‘s Deep Space Network antenna in California was directed on “2007 PA8“, a one mile wide asteroid. In these few days the asteroid came the closest it will ever get to Earth in 200 years, which was still a few million miles away. Nevertheless, NASA released composite images of […]
Vesta is “peppered” with carbon materials which researchers believe were left behind by asteroids gently striking its surface. Vesta is an asteroid itself – but one so large that some astronauts were actually thinking about declaring it a planet, or at least a protoplanet. It is the second largest asteroid in our solar system, second […]
