Asteroids

Articles and guides about asteroids.

Artist’s impression of OSIRIS-REx spacecraft collecting a sample from asteroid Bennu. Credit: NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona

OSIRIS REx: NASA’s mission to return an asteroid sample to Earth

OSIRIS Rex approaches asteroid Bennu

OSIRIS REx touches down on asteroid Bennu

Hera orbiting Didymos

Hera: Europe’s asteroid mission to defend Earth

Podcast icon: Hera hovering over impact crater

Radio Astronomy Podcast Deflecting asteroids with Hera and DART

The path of 7 Iris as it passes through Sagittarius. Credit: Pete Lawrence

See asteroid 7 Iris in Sagittarius this month

A mosaic of asteroid Bennu, as seen by the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft. Credit: NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona.

Eye On The Sky OSIRIS-REx captures epic mosaic of asteroid Bennu

Was Itokawa formed by a sub-catastrophic collision? Credit: JAXA

How do binary asteroids form?

An asteroid passing by Earth (artist's impression). Credit: ESA/P.Carril

Asteroid Day, 30 June 2019: all you need to know

An artist's impression of an asteroid belt around the bright star Vega. Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Interview The science of space rocks

OSIRIS REX entered orbit around Bennu on 3 December 2018, and is now around 19km above the surface. Image Credit: NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona

OSIRIS REX discovers water on asteroid Bennu

An image of star cluster NGC 3293, taken by the Wide Field Imager on the MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope at ESO’s La Silla Observatory in Chile. Our Sun formed in a tightly-packed cluster like this, where asteroid exchange can occur between star systems. Image Credit: ESO/G. Beccari

First interstellar Solar System visitor discovered

The asteroid is a relic of the gravitational upheaval that occured during the early eras of the Solar System. Credit: ESO/M. Kornmesser

Asteroid found in exile in outer Solar System

An artist’s impression of ‘Oumuamua.Credit: ESO / M. Kornmesser

‘Oumuamua likely came from binary system

The elongated crater ‘Spirit of St. Louis’ can be seen in this image of the Martian surface, as seen by NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity. Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell Univ./Arizona State University

Asteroids, comets deliver organics to Mars

An artist’s impression of the first interstellar asteroid, named `Oumuamua. It may have been travelling through space for millions of years before entering our Solar System. Image Credit: ESO/M. Kornmesser

Interstellar asteroid ‘Oumuamua enters Solar System