Piece of a Comet Found Tucked Inside Meteorite
Scientists have found a cometary building block in an unexpected place: deep inside a meteorite, according to a new…
Hayabusa2 Spacecraft Blasts Artificial Crater in Asteroid Ryugu's Surface
Japan’s Hayabusa2 spacecraft has completed yet another intense mission: It used an explosive to blast a crater in the…
Wildly Spinning Asteroid Caught In the Throes of Self-Destruction
With its long, bright tail, this object bears an uncanny resemblance to a comet, but it’s actually an active asteroid.…
Kazakh Meteorite Reveals Signs of Ancient Solar 'Superflare'
Scientists have found evidence of an ancient solar “superflare” hidden in a meteorite that was first found in…
Collecting Samples From Asteroid Bennu May Be Harder Than NASA Realized, New Findings Suggest
NASA scientists have released a boatload of data from OSIRIS-REx, the spacecraft orbiting the asteroid Bennu. There are…
The Hayabusa2 Mission to Asteroid Ryugu Just Dropped Its First Scientific Results
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s Hayabusa2 mission has released its first batch of scientific results on…
A Huge Asteroid Exploded Above Earth, and You Totally Missed It
The second-largest asteroid to hit Earth in the last 30 years went undetected, until now.
New Video Shows the Critical Moment Hayabusa2 Fired a Bullet Into Ryugu Asteroid
An encouraging new video released by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency shows Hayabusa2 briefly touching down on…
Astronomers Around the World Are Training in Case a Giant Asteroid Threatens Earth
On October 12, 2017, a 20-meter asteroid passed just 50,000 kilometers (31,000 miles) from Earth. For weeks, dozens of…
Extreme Dwarf Planet FarFarOut Could Be the Most Distant Known Object in the Solar System
Just months after discovering FarOut, the most distant known object in the Solar System, the same team of astronomers…
Dramatic Dark Smudge Appears Where Hayabusa2 Landed on Ryugu Asteroid
Japan’s Hayabusa2 probe touched down successfully on the Ryugu asteroid late last week, blasting its surface…
Japanese Spacecraft Hayabusa2 Touches Down on Asteroid Ryugu
The Japanese Hayabusa2 spacecraft has completed one of its most exciting challenges yet: On Thursday evening, it…
Japanese Spacecraft to Shoot Bullet at Asteroid This Week
The spacecraft Hayabusa2's first touchdown onto the asteroid Ryugu is scheduled for this week. If successful, the craft…
It Looks Like There's a Second, Bigger Impact Crater Under Greenland's Ice
Scientists have spotted a potential asteroid crater in Greenland just 114 miles away from another one announced a few…
The Newest Pictures of Asteroid Bennu Are Unreal
The asteroid-orbiting OSIRIS-REx spacecraft has released some of its most detailed images yet of its target, the…
Amateur Astronomy Equipment May Have Spotted Tiny Object Beyond Neptune
Japanese astronomers spotted evidence of tiny Kuiper Belt object at the outer edge of the Solar System using a pair of…
The Frequency of Asteroid Impacts Jumped Just Before the Dinosaur Age, New Research Suggests
By comparing the age of impact craters on the Moon to those on Earth, researchers say they have discovered a surge in…
Bennu Is Now the Smallest Object Ever Orbited by a Spacecraft
The new year has brought important milestones for two space missions—but only one of them deals in the very survival of…
Astronomers Just Discovered 'Farout,' the Most Distant Known Object in the Solar System
A team of astronomers has discovered the most extreme trans-Neptunian object in the outer reaches of the Solar System.…
A Passing Comet Will Be Visible to the Naked Eye This Weekend
The year’s brightest comet will make its closest approach with Earth over the weekend—and, if you’re in the right spot,…