15 Items Tagged

Asteroids

The Milky Way rises above Pakistan's Karakoram Mountain Range.

The 8 Best Astronomy Books For Beginners

From Mary Roach’s hilarious look at space travel to astronaut Scott Kelly’s photos documenting a year off planet.

Sarah Durn August 10, 2023

A Perseid meteor streaks across the sky above northwestern China on August 12, 2022.

The Perseid Meteor Shower Is Summer's Best Show

Here's what you need to know about witnessing the annual August event, when Earth passes through a comet's castoffs.

Rebecca Boyle August 9, 2023

Nevada State Route 375 was officially designated as the Extraterrestial Highway in a nod to rumors of otherworldly activity, but the desert road offers plenty of more grounded attractions.

Nevada's Extraterrestrial Highway Is Full of Earthly Wonders, Too

Explore a catastrophic space rock strike, unique flora and fauna, and millennia-old rock art on this famous stretch of desert road.

Matthew Malinowski August 8, 2023

When it comes to meteorite hunting, Vargas says, “I love it. I love all this stuff.”

Meet the Meteorite Hunters Who Rush In When Space Rocks Crash to Earth

For this community of “space cowboys,” entrepreneurs, and enthusiasts, a fireball streaming across the sky offers big risks and bigger rewards—and new tech is heating up the competition.

Sarah Durn September 29, 2022

Chelyabinsk Meteorite

Chelyabinsk, Russia

Chelyabinsk Meteorite

The largest-known fragment of an asteroid that exploded over the southern Ural region in 2013.

Using a surprise source of evidence, researchers believe an infamous dinosaur-killing asteroid slammed into Earth in the Northern Hemisphere spring.

Did the Dinosaurs Die on a Pleasant North Dakota Spring Day?

Fish fossils may put "the single worst day for multicellular life on Earth" on the calendar.

Gemma Tarlach February 23, 2022

A multidisciplinary research team believes a catastrophic impact event may have inspired the Biblical story of the destruction of Sodom.

Is an Asteroid to Blame for the Biblical Story of Sodom?

A massive space rock impact event may have inspired the tale of godly wrath.

Christopher R. Moore November 1, 2021

The surface of Bennu, up close.

space exploration

A New, Up-Close Look at an Old, Near-Earth Asteroid

The spacecraft OSIRIS-REx gives us a startlingly clear view of space rock that probably won't hit us.

Evan Nicole Brown January 29, 2019

What Does This Alien Minor Planet Look Like?

A peanut? Or maybe a bowling pin?

Jessica Leigh Hester January 3, 2019

A simulated perspective of Ahuna Mons, based on images taken from Dawn in 2016, at an altitude of 240 miles.

Instead of Hot Lava, These Cosmic Volcanoes Spew Ice

The dwarf planet Ceres is studded with cryovolcanoes.

Jessica Leigh Hester September 17, 2018

In 2012, the B612 Foundation took a trip to the bottom of the Barringer Crater in Arizona.

Mill Valley, California

B612 Foundation

Astronomers plan to launch a space telescope into orbit, to find out what exactly stands in the way of an asteroid hitting Earth.

The small, bright streak on the lower left was part of the Phoenicid meteor shower in December 2014.

The Mysterious Case of the Vanishing Comet

The key to solving the puzzle was meteor showers.

Kelsey Kennedy October 2, 2017

The object 288P, with the binary asteroids' orbit in blue.

Hubble Spotted a Strange New Object in Our Solar System

It's kind of a comet and kind of an asteroid that orbits itself, and it could tell us something about early Earth.

Kelsey Kennedy September 21, 2017

Asteroid families begin to disperse because of the way they are affected by the heat of the sun.

Found: The Oldest Known Family of Asteroids in the Solar System

Over time, they drift apart.

Erik Shilling August 4, 2017

The sky over the Nubian Desert in Sudan, just after 2008-TC3 passed through the atmosphere.

The First Asteroid We Knew Would Hit Earth in Advance

When 2008-TC3 crashed into the Sudanese desert, not everyone was surprised.

Cara Giaimo June 30, 2017