The number 40,000 might not sound particularly dramatic, but it represents humanity's growing catalog of near-Earth asteroids, rocky remnants from the solar system's violent birth that cross paths ...

Asteroids contain large quantities of both precious and common metals, and despite the obvious challenges in reaching them, a few startups say these celestial bodies could offer a sustainable ...

Asteroid Itokawa, pictured here, is a “rubble pile,” a loose conglomeration of rocks held together by mutual gravity. New research suggests it is possible to determine the internal character of ...

The way an asteroid spins -- either smoothly on its axis or in a chaotic tumble -- depends on how many times it has been hit by other objects in space. At the EPSC-DPS2025 Joint Meeting in Helsinki, ...

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. A hidden population of asteroids sharing Venus' orbit could threaten Earth in a few thousand ...

Space can be a dangerous place, with massive rocks hurling through the solar system at fast speeds, some of which may be headed in our direction. NASA and other agencies keep a close watch on the ...

Some asteroids are more dangerous than others, according to a report issued this week in Nature Astronomy by an international team of researchers, led by astrophysicist Auriane Egal of the Montreal ...

Meteoroids When somewhat larger rocks stray into the solar system, they are meteoroids, and if a bit bigger, they come from asteroids or from comets. Because most of those tiny bits of dust end up ...

Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent every weekday. Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Asteroids may be wondrous windows into the history of the cosmos ...

Scientists studying asteroids found that two seemingly unrelated types share a strange dusty coating of troilite. By using polarization of light instead of traditional spectra, they uncovered evidence ...

While about 20,000 previously unknown asteroids are discovered every year by telescopes around the world and spacecraft in orbit, the first images by the new Vera C. Rubin Observatory revealed 2,000 ...