-
+25 +1
Alien Asteroids Are Here, Scientists Say. Get Used to Them.
An asteroid that cohabits an orbit with Jupiter came from outside the solar system.
-
+19 +1
Meteorites on Earth May Come from Just a Handful of Early Lost Worlds
Most of the inner main asteroid belt may come from five big objects that broke up in the solar system's early history.
-
+1 +1
NASA Announces Discovery of Rare Double Asteroid
An asteroid that made a close approach to Earth last month is actually two objects orbiting each other, reveal new observations by three of the world’s largest radio telescopes. The new observations obtained between June 21 and 26 indicate that the two objects, each about 900 metres in size, revolve around each other once every 20 to 24 hours, NASA said in a statement on Thursday.
-
+14 +1
NASA spacecraft approaches Bennu asteroid, snaps first photo
Two years after launching from Florida, a NASA spacecraft is closing in on an ancient asteroid, Bennu, for a sample of space dust that could reveal clues to the start of life in the solar system. The spacecraft, OSIRIS-REx, has even snapped its first, blurry pic of the cosmic body, which is about the size of a small mountain, about 500 yards (meters) in diameter.
-
+2 +1
JAXA confirms tiny robots from Hayabusa2 landed on asteroid
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency says the Minerva-II1 explorers will explore the flying space rock by hopping around it, taking advantage of its low gravity.
-
+21 +1
How rare minerals form when meteorites slam into Earth
The discovery of a rare mineral (reidite) at the Woodleigh meteorite impact structure in Western Australia was published this week by Curtin University honours student Morgan Cox and colleagues. Reidite – and other minerals – are sometimes formed when meteorites crash into Earth. This takes a particular set of circumstances. Only six prior discoveries of reidite had ever been reported.
-
+26 +1
Could 'Oumuamua be an extraterrestrial solar sail?
On October 19th, 2017, the Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System-1 (Pan-STARRS-1) in Hawaii announced the first-ever detection of an interstellar asteroid, named 1I/2017 U1 (aka, "Oumuamua). In the months that followed, multiple follow-up observations were conducted that allowed astronomers to get a better idea of its size and shape, while also revealing that it had the characteristics of both a comet and an asteroid.
-
+15 +1
Cigar-shaped interstellar object may have been an alien probe, Harvard paper claims
A mysterious cigar-shaped object spotted tumbling through our solar system last year may have been an alien spacecraft sent to investigate Earth, astronomers from Harvard University have suggested. The object, nicknamed 'Oumuamua, meaning "a messenger that reaches out from the distant past" in Hawaiian, was first discovered in October 2017 by the Pan-STARRS 1 telescope in Hawaii.
-
+15 +1
Scientists push back against Harvard 'alien spacecraft' theory
A scientific paper led by two researchers at Harvard University made a splash this week by claiming that a cigar-shaped rock zooming through our solar system may have been sent by aliens. The researchers noted in a pre-print of the article that it was an "exotic scenario," but that "Oumuamua may be a fully operational probe sent intentionally to Earth vicinity by an alien civilization."
-
+11 +1
Impact crater beneath Greenland could help explain Ice Age
Most of Earth’s surface has been plotted, mapped and measured. And along the way, scientists have turned up a plethora of craters big and small. But there was always one major crater missingMost of Earth’s surface has been plotted, mapped and measured. And along the way, scientists have turned up a plethora of craters big and small. But there was always one major crater missing.
-
+30 +1
Astronomers Are Tracking Four Potential Interstellar Objects Now In Our Outer Solar System
Using detailed computer models of asteroidal-type objects between the Sun and Jupiter, two Harvard University researchers find that at least four known objects are likely to have origins from outside our solar system. After becoming gravitationally-trapped, the four potentially interstellar objects --- 2011 SP25, 2017 RR2, 2017 SV13, and 2018 TL6 --- are thought to spend most of their time between the orbits of Jupiter and Neptune. However, during their closest approaches to the Sun, they do pass through Earth’s neighborhood.
-
+10 +1
Astronaut says a neglected telescope is NASA's best chance of defending Earth from 'city killer' asteroids — 'for God's sake, fund it'
A former NASA astronaut says the agency he used to work for has a duty to protect civilians from killer asteroids, but that it isn't meeting that obligation. The threat of asteroid strikes might seem as abstract as outer space itself. But the risk, while infrequent, is real — and potentially more deadly than the threat posed by some of the most powerful nuclear weapons ever detonated.
-
+12 +1
After a two-year journey, a NASA spacecraft arrives at its target asteroid
Today, one of NASA’s deep-space probes, OSIRIS-REx, arrived at the space rock it’s been traveling toward for the last two years, an asteroid named Bennu. At noon ET, OSIRIS-REx came within about 12 miles (20 kilometers) of the asteroid, which is closer than ever before. The arrival means that OSIRIS-REx is now starting a new phase of its mission that entails extensively mapping the surface of the asteroid to find the best place to grab a sample of material.
-
+4 +1
Nasa spacecraft gets up close with asteroid on collision course with Earth
NASA’s spacecraft OSIRIS-REx has finally reached the asteroid 101955 Bennu – which may be on collision course with the Earth – after travelling for just over two years since its launch in September 2016. This mission, which will bring grains back for us to study on Earth, is latest to return asteroid samples to Earth after the Japanese Space Agency’s missions Hayabusa 1 and 2 and StarDust. The data will help unveil more about the origins of the solar system and how to protect the Earth from possible asteroid impact.
-
+14 +1
NASA: Holiday asteroid looks like a hippopotamus
Asteroids aren't always the most elegant-looking objects in the cosmos. New NASA radar images of asteroid 2003 SD220 show a rock that resembles a space slug, or that creepy Ceti eel ear-bug thing from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. Or even a hippo. The asteroid is considered a near-Earth object, but it'll zoom past us at a safe distance of 1.8 million miles (2.9 million kilometers) on Saturday. This is 2003 SD220's closest approach to our planet in 400 years, though it will slide by slightly closer in 2070.
-
+19 +1
Incoming! A June meteor swarm could be loaded with surprises.
Scientists studying the Tunguska impact of 1908 call for a special observing campaign next summer.
-
+18 +1
Harvard Professor Doubles Down On Claim That 2017 Alien Probe Visited Earth
The head of Harvard University's Astronomy Department is doubling down on his claim from November 2018 that the space rock Oumuamua, the first interstellar object to enter our solar system, which it did in 2017, was an alien probe. Dr. Avi Loeb was interviewed by Haaretz about his controversial claim, which was made in a paper published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters. Co-author and Harvard astrophysicist Shmuel Bialy had stated, “Currently there is an unexplained phenomena, namely, the excess acceleration of Oumuamua...
-
+2 +1
NASA will attempt to knock an asteroid out of orbit for the first time in 2022
If an asteroid were to head toward Earth, we would be quite defenseless, as we have not successfully developed a method that could reduce — or entirely avert — the impact of a devastating collision. However, that may be about to change. NASA has approved a project called the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART), the aim of which is to throw a "small" asteroid off course in October 2022.
-
+19 +1
'Oumuamua could be the debris cloud of a disintegrated interstellar comet
Since it was first detected hurling through our solar system, the interstellar object known as 'Oumuamua has been a source of immense scientific interest. Aside from being extrasolar in origin, the fact that it has managed to defy classification time and again has led to some pretty interesting theories. While some have suggested that it is a comet or an asteroid, there has even been the suggestion that it might be an interstellar spacecraft.
-
+14 +1
An asteroid will briefly blot out the sky's brightest star tonight
Tonight is a fantastic night to hunt for Sirius in the evening sky. The night sky’s brightest star (at magnitude –1.5) appears due south and at its highest position around 9 p.m. local time tonight. It then lies about one-third of the way from the horizon to the zenith from mid-northern latitudes. (The farther south you live, the higher it appears.)
Submit a link
Start a discussion