asteroids

NASA turns to an old-fashioned technology in the hunt for asteroids

Behold the peanut-shaped Asteroid 2006 DP14, a 1,300-foot (400-meter) long object that recently flew past Earth. The asteroid was scanned with Doppler radar — a tried-and-true technology that’s helping astronomers pinpoint potentially dangerous near-Earth objects. Using Delay-Doppler Radar, the images were captured by NASA scientists using the 230-foot (70-meter) Deep Space Network antenna at Goldstone,…

This pulsar got slammed by a billion-ton asteroid

You know when you’re having a bad day when you get hit by a billion-ton asteroid. But for a pulsar 37,000 light-years away, it’s just a another day at the office. And besides, PSR J0738-4042 has an uber-powerful X-ray blaster to deal with errant space rocks. Image: An artistic impression of an asteroid getting blasted…

The mammoth asteroid set to fly by Earth last night just disappeared

Last night, a giant asteroid was supposed to streak by the Earth, close enough for us to catch a glimpse as it zipped by. Except it never showed, and now astronomers say they have no idea just where the 900-foot asteroid has gone. https://gizmodo.com/watch-a-live-feed-here-of-a-giant-asteroid-as-it-zips-b-1524530893 So, just how does one misplace an asteroid the size of…

Watch a live feed of a giant asteroid as it zips by earth today

It’s an asteroid the length of three football fields, it’s traveling at over 27,000 MPH, and it will be swinging pretty near to our own planet tonight — not close enough to touch (fortunately), but plenty close enough to get an eyeful. You can watch it here! Top image: Artist’s conception of an asteroid belt…

All of Earth’s Water Comes From Space

If there’s one thing that makes our home planet special—other than the presence of you and me—it’s water. This is The Blue Marble after all. But for something that’s so characteristically Earth-y, its origins are positively extra-terrestrial. As MinuteEarth explains, the question isn’t so much whether our water came from space, but rather how it…

NASA spots a ‘potentially hazardous’ new asteroid

Say hello to 2013 YP139 — a newly discovered 0.4 mile (650 meter) wide asteroid spotted by NASA’s recently re-started NEOWISE spacecraft. Preliminary calculations show it’ll come within 300,000 miles from Earth — thus qualifying it as a potential headache. Above: The six red dots in this composite picture indicate the location of the first…

The Naked Metal Core of a Dead Planet Is Circling the Sun

You know about those plans to visit an asteroid in the next few years? Well, a select group of astronauts would like to sweeten the deal. Why visit a regular asteroid, when there’s a planet’s solid metal floating up there and it’s likely magnetic? https://gizmodo.com/white-house-nasas-next-big-mission-will-be-to-capture-5993908 Asteroid 16 Psyche is the intriguing candidate in question. Linda…

Our first glimpse of the Moon’s newest crater

Back in March, the Moon was struck by a meteoroid travelling 56,000 mph. The resulting explosion released the equivalent of five tons of TNT — a flash that could be seen from Earth with the naked eye. NASA has now released an image of the moon’s latest feature. https://gizmodo.com/the-biggest-explosion-ever-seen-on-the-moon-508167482 The image was captured by NASA’s…

Asteroid That Killed the Dinosaurs Might Have Blasted Life to Mars

The massive asteroid that slammed into Earth some 66 million years ago is often—and understandably—considered a vicious killer. But new research into the cosmic effects of the impact suggest quite the opposite. That deadly asteroid might have actually blasted life throughout the solar system. As a team of researchers argue in the latest issue of…

Watch a Huge, Newly Discovered Asteroid Almost Graze Earth

This beautiful tracking video shows Asteroid 2013 XY8 buzzing our planet on Tuesday night. It’s estimated to be up to 230 feet across, more than three times the size of the Chelyabinsk asteroid that caused havoc earlier this year. And we only discovered it four days ago. This could’ve gotten hairy. https://gizmodo.com/meteorite-explodes-over-russia-panic-spreads-5984476 At a little…

Every year, we find 1,000 new objects in space near Earth

Today, we got some hard numbers on the asteroids, comets and other objects whizzing through space near Earth. Astrophysicist Amy Mainzer took a break from asteroid-hunting at JPL to answer a couple of our most burning questions about asteroids, comets, and whatever else is just over our heads. Among the questions she answered were just…

Ask an astrophysicist anything you want about nearby asteroids!

Amy Mainzer is an astrophysicist at the Jet Propulsion Lab who builds instruments for space telescopes that allow us to study Earth’s nearest neighbors, including asteroids, comets, and stars. She’s here today to answer your questions about all the objects whizzing past Earth — and which ones we should be keeping our eyes on. Mainzer…

Astronomers Discover an Extraordinary Comet With Six Tails

Using the Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers have detected a multi-tailed main-belt comet the likes of which has never been seen before. A main-belt comet is a special class of celestial objects that orbit inside our asteroid belt and exhibit comet-like activity at some point during their orbits (like shedding some of its mass and having…

Risk of asteroid hitting Earth is ten times higher than we thought

This is frightening. Nature just published a study by astronomers who have reanalyzed and recalculated the estimate of asteroids that could hit Earth and it’s a lot worse than we thought. Ten times worse. As in, researchers are now saying we are 10 times more likely to get struck by an asteroid than before. As…

The UN adopts official guidelines for protecting Earth from asteroids

The United Nations has approved a set of measures to protect our planet from the dangers of incoming asteroids. The recently-adopted guidelines will correct a number of outstanding issues, including global coordination and an actual response plan. Indeed, this has been a long time coming. The guidelines were developed back in 2008 by the Association…

Japan Just Successfully Tested Its Asteroid-Shattering Space Cannon

You have to crawl before you can walk—be you a baby or an asteroid-blasting space cannon. Now, after a successful test-fire here on Earth, Japan’s specially made cannon for its Hayabusa 2 spacecraft is ready to take its first, real steps in outer space. https://gizmodo.com/hayabusa-probe-has-successfully-brought-back-first-aste-5691545 Built by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), the space…

Astronomers discover a massive asteroid that could hit us in 2032

Mark August 26th, 2032 on your calendar, folks. Ukrainian astronomers have just detected a 1,350-foot-wide (410 meter) minor planet that’s headed our way. The impact risk is minimal, but it’s now the most serious near-term celestial threat to face our planet. I tend to shrug off this sort of stuff when I encounter it, but…

The Rosetta Spacecraft Is Humanity’s First Asteroid Lander

While NASA’s asteroid-capturing mission remains grounded from a lack of Congressional funding, a similar and equally ambitious ESA program is nearing fruition. In the coming months, the Rosetta spacecraft and its integrated Philae probe will become the first manmade objects to not only orbit an asteroid but land on it as well. Here’s how they’ll…

Astronomers Find Water on the Remnants of a Destroyed Planet

For the first time ever, scientists have found actual chemical evidence of water on a rocky object outside of our solar system. The water wasn’t found on a planet, but rather the remains of one shredded to bits by its dying parent star. Top illustration: Mark A. Garlick/space-art.co.uk/University of Warwick/University of Cambridge). The sopping wet…

Jodorowsky in the sky forever. He may not have gotten to direct a movie version of Dune, but at least comics creator and filmmaker Alejandro Jodorowsky has gotten an asteroid named after him.