New Atlas

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Touchdown: Japan's Hayabusa 2 probe snatches dust from asteroid Ryugu

Nick Lavars February 21, 2019

Mission scientists at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) are celebrating today, after data from its Hayabusa 2 probe confirmed a successfully touchdown on its target, a kilometer-wide near-Earth asteroid called Ryugu.

Artists impression of the Hayabusa 2 probe, which launched for the asteroid Ryugu in 2014

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Hayabusa 2 prepares to fire projectiles at asteroid Ryugu to kick up dust for collection

Nick Lavars February 18, 2019

Mission scientists in Japan are preparing to lower their Hayabusa 2 probe to the surface of the asteroid Ryugu. As part of this objective, the team will fire metal bullets into the asteroid’s gravely surface, but not without having conducted a dress rehearsal first.

Ryugu, imaged from an altitude of around 6 km

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Japanese astronomers spot new class of object in the Kuiper Belt

Michael Irving January 29, 2019

A team at the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan has discovered a new class of object that has long been thought to exist in the Kuiper belt on the fringes of the solar system. It's a small body on the scale of a few kilometers.

An artist's impression of the newly-discovered object

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"Planet Nine" may be a distant, dusty disc of rock and ice

Michael Irving January 22, 2019

In recent years astronomers have found evidence that there might be a huge “Planet Nine” lurking on the fringes of the solar system. A new study has now poured some cold water on the idea, instead pitching the possibility that a dusty disc is causing all the weirdness out there.

An artist's rendering of the hypothetical Planet Nine

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NASA probe makes history as it slips into orbit around asteroid Bennu

Nick Lavars January 1, 2019

A daring mission to sample a distant asteroid is starting to get very interesting, with NASA's OSIRIS-REx probe setting off some New Year's fireworks of its own in an eight-second burn to enter orbit around Bennu.

Rendering of OSIRIS-REx in orbit around the asteroid Bennu

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NASA's New Horizons probe seems to be approaching a surprisingly "dark" world

Michael Irving December 26, 2018

New Horizons is just days away from its historic flyby of Ultima Thule, a mysterious object on the fringe of the solar system. Ultima now seems to be an unexpectedly “dark” world, and while there are a number of possible explanations, none of them have any precedent in the solar system.

An artist's impression of Ultima Thule, which is already turning out to be quite mysterious before ...

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NASA probe finds water on asteroid Bennu

Michael Irving December 10, 2018

NASA’s asteroid-hunting probe OSIRIS-REx, only arrived at the asteroid Bennu a week ago, and it’s already made a startling discovery. After analyzing data gathered by the craft, the team found that Bennu is rich in water molecules, locked away in clay minerals.

A mosaic image of the asteroid Bennu, snapped by OSIRIS-REx from a distance of 24 km ...

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SETI confirms that 'Oumuamua isn't signalling us

David Szondy December 5, 2018

After a year of analysis, the SETI Institute has concluded that 'Oumuamua, the first interstellar object known to have visited our Solar System, isn't trying to make radio contact with us.

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OSIRIS-Rex spacecraft reaches asteroid Bennu

David Szondy December 3, 2018

After two years and two months of travel across 1.2 billion mi (two billion km), NASA's Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) spacecraft has reached the asteroid Bennu.

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NASA probe flexes its robotic sampling arm ahead of asteroid encounter

Nick Lavars November 20, 2018

As part of preparations for a highly anticipated asteroid encounter, NASA's OSIRIS-REx probe has successfully carried out an important dress rehearsal starring the robotic arm that will be used to grab samples of dust and rock from the surface.

Artist's impression of the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft in action