Asteroid

Radio waves from Alaska have been transmitted to an asteroid passing just two lunar distances away from the Earth. The information gathered could arm scientists with information that may be critical in defending the planet from a collision some day.

The collision between NASA’s DART spacecraft and the asteroid Dimorphos was always going to be a spectacle. By analyzing data from telescopes and tiny satellites nearby, scientists are now piecing together some fascinating details around the event.

Astronomers have discovered three new near-Earth asteroids, including the closest known to the Sun. Another is one of the largest known asteroids considered potentially hazardous to Earth, measuring almost a mile wide with an orbit close to our own.

Astronomers have been keenly watching the asteroid Didymos since the historic DART mission successfully crashed a spacecraft into it last month. And now, Hubble has detected something unexpected – the asteroid has sprouted two tails.

As the dinosaurs could attest, it’s worth keeping an eye on space rocks buzzing around Earth. Many observatories are doing just that, and astronomers have announced that we’ve just ticked over the milestone of 30,000 near-Earth asteroids discovered.

Last month, NASA purposely crashed a spacecraft into an asteroid in an attempt to knock it off course, and the results are now in, with scientists confirming the orbit of Dimorphos around its parent asteroid was shortened by 32 minutes.

Around 66 million years ago a huge asteroid slammed into Earth and wiped out most life. Two new studies have identified evidence that the impact triggered global tsunamis almost a mile high and mega-earthquakes that rumbled for months afterwards.

Last week, NASA crashed a spacecraft into an asteroid, and now images have been released of the collision and aftermath from a suite of telescopes – including Hubble and James Webb in their first collaboration. One even shows a new 10,000-km tail.

Dozens of Earth-based telescopes were trained on the Dimorphos asteroid as it was struck by NASA’s DART spacecraft yesterday, but scientists also had some eyes in the sky – a CubeSat satellite deployed specifically to photograph the event.

An audacious planetary defense mission reached a historic crescendo today, with a NASA probe spectacularly crashing into the asteroid Dimorphos in an important rehearsal for how we might deflect hazardous asteroids in the future.

Today, NASA will explore a planetary defense technique through a world-first mission to crash into the asteroid Dimorphos and alter its orbit. We checked in with the team behind this landmark mission to understand some of the mechanics at play.

Australian scientists have discovered strangely folded diamonds in rare meteorite samples. In investigating how they came to form, the team found evidence that they were forged in a cataclysm on an ancient dwarf planet.