Asteroid

South African researchers found new evidence supporting the hypothesis that Earth was struck by an asteroid 12,800 years ago, causing global cooling.

The Hayabusa 2 spacecraft has sent a third and final rover toward asteroid Ryugu, as mission control begins to think about bringing the probe and its precious samples home.

A new study argues that the death of a huge asteroid caused an ice age that dramatically altered the evolution of life on Earth.

A drilling expedition to the Chicxulub crater turned up new details of the immediate aftermath of the asteroid impact that killed the dinosaurs.

One of the weirdest objects in the asteroid belt just got weirder. Astronomers have spotted 6478 Gault changing from red to blue.

Of all the things you don’t want to lose, an asteroid with a chance of striking Earth is pretty high up the list. A potentially dangerous space rock called 2006 QV89 has been missing in action for 13 years, but now astronomers have finally found it, and ruled out an impact within the next century.

If you plan to visit asteroid Bennu, you'll need a new map. The International Astronomical Union and NASA have decided that features of the asteroid currently being orbited by the space agency's unmanned OSIRIS-REx deep-space probe will be named after "birds and bird-like creatures in mythology."

​​The Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has released a video showing the climactic moments of the Hayabusa 2 spacecraft’s second descent to the surface of asteroid Ryugu, which took place on July 11, 2019.

A few months ago, the asteroid 2006 QV89 grabbed headlines thanks to a slim chance of striking Earth this September. But now the potentially-hazardous space rock has missed its appointment. ESA has confirmed that the asteroid hasn’t appeared in the sky yet, ruling out an impact any time soon.

The Japanese spacecraft Hayabusa 2 has successfully pulled off a second touchdown on the surface of the distant asteroid Ryugu. The risky dive saw the probe collect material that had been exposed during the creation of an artificial crater on April 5.

It’s been suggested in the past that life could hitch a ride on asteroids or comets to jump from world to world – a process known as panspermia. Now, a Harvard team has calculated just how likely that scenario would be throughout the Milky Way. In short: extremely.

Astronomers have discovered a weird star system that appears to be dimming completely at random, and none of the usual explanations seem to fit.