asteroid

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Tonight Could Bring Some of 2024's Final Fireballs

Annual Geminids meteor shower is set to peak on Friday evening

(Newser) - The Geminids—among the few major meteor showers to come from asteroids—peak on Friday, one of the year's last chances to see fireballs in the sky. The shower often produces meteors with a distinctly more yellow glow, likely due to the unusual origin material, said Sally Brummel, planetarium...

Spacecraft Launched for 'Crash Scene Investigation'

Hera will take a close look at asteroid rammed by NASA spacecraft 2 years ago

(Newser) - A spacecraft blasted off Monday to investigate the scene of a cosmic crash. The European Space Agency's Hera spacecraft rocketed away on a two-year journey to the small, harmless asteroid rammed by NASA two years ago in a dress rehearsal for the day a killer space rock threatens Earth,...

Asteroid Detected Hours Before Earth Impact

It's only the 9th time this has happened

(Newser) - A small asteroid discovered on Wednesday harmlessly burned up in Earth's atmosphere the same day, NASA said. The asteroid—about 3 feet across—was spotted by astronomers in Arizona and broke apart over the coast of the Philippines hours after the discovery. This space rock, dubbed 2024 RW1, is...

Dinosaur-Killing Asteroid Was Formed Beyond Jupiter
Dinosaur-Killing Asteroid
Had a Distant Origin
NEW STUDY
Aug 16, 2024 8:45 AM CDT

Dinosaur-Killing Asteroid Had a Distant Origin

Researchers say it formed beyond Jupiter

(Newser) - The asteroid that doomed the dinosaurs came to Earth from a distant neighborhood, researchers say. In a study published in the journal Science , researchers say analysis of isotopes confirmed that the asteroid that hit a site called Chicxulub 66 million years ago was a carbon-rich asteroid that formed in the...

Dinosaurs' Extinction May Have Been the Birth of Wine

Plant that gave rise to commercial grapes spread in dense forests after asteroid impact

(Newser) - Had an asteroid not struck the planet some 66 million years ago, dinosaurs might still exist—but there would potentially be no wine. According to researchers, grapes might have originated only after the Chicxulub impact transformed the environment, wiping out 76% of all living species, per IFL Science . "We...

2 Massive Asteroids Enter the Neighborhood

No risk to Earth, but a great chance to learn

(Newser) - An asteroid large enough to destroy a city will make a rare pass by Earth this weekend, coming close enough to spot with a telescope, "or perhaps even with some good binoculars," per the New York Times . Thankfully, there's a 0% chance that 2024 MK, discovered less...

NASA Has Successfully Nudged an Asteroid
NASA Did a Number
On the Asteroid It Hit
UPDATED
Mar 20, 2024 9:55 AM CDT

NASA Did a Number On the Asteroid It Hit

Dimorphos' shape was changed, in addition to its orbit time, a new study finds

(Newser) - It's safe to say NASA's test of whether an asteroid could be nudged off a collision path with Earth was a success. The DART spacecraft's impact with the asteroid Dimorphos not only shaved 33 minutes and 15 seconds off the time it takes to circle its parent...

NASA Hits the Jackpot on Its 'Rubble Return Goal'

OSIRIS-REx spacecraft returned double the expected samples from asteroid Bennu

(Newser) - NASA finally has counted up all the asteroid samples returned by a spacecraft last fall—and it's double the rubble return goal. Officials reported Thursday that the Osiris-Rex spacecraft collected 4.29 ounces of dust and pebbles from asteroid Bennu. That's just over half a cup and the...

Asteroid Size of Empire State Building Is About to Fly By Earth

2008 OS7 will come within 1.7M miles of our planet on Friday, though experts assure that it won't hit us

(Newser) - An asteroid as big as a skyscraper will pass within 1.7 million miles of Earth on Friday. But it's not on a collision course with us, as it will pass seven times the distance from Earth to the moon, per the AP . NASA's Center for Near-Earth Object...

NASA Finally Unlocks Its Asteroid Sample
OSIRIS-REx Reveals
a 'Treasure Trove'
Jan 24, 2024 12:51 PM CST

OSIRIS-REx Reveals a 'Treasure Trove'

NASA finally unlocks long-sought asteroid sample, with some decent-sized rocks

(Newser) - After months of painstaking effort, the last two screws have finally been removed from the end of OSIRIS-REx's articulated arm, which grabbed a sample of the near-Earth asteroid Bennu as part of a $1 billion NASA mission, allowing scientists to look inside. They found a "treasure trove of...

The Impact Boiled the Ocean. But It Wasn't All Bad
The Impact Boiled the Ocean.
But It Wasn't All Bad
in case you missed it
Dec 24, 2023 7:39 AM CST

The Impact Boiled the Ocean. But It Wasn't All Bad

Scientists believe S2 impact held some benefits for early life 3.26B years ago

(Newser) - Billions of years before a smaller asteroid slammed Earth, triggering a global blackout that would wipe out the dinosaurs, a rock four times the size of Mount Everest made an even bigger splash. Researchers have long known about the impact, dubbed S2, which occurred 3.26 billion years ago, based...

NASA's Surprise Find: This Asteroid's 'Dinky Sidekick'

Lucy spacecraft discovers 'mini moon' during flyby of Dinkinesh space hunk

(Newser) - The little asteroid visited by NASA's Lucy spacecraft this week had a big surprise for scientists. It turns out that the asteroid Dinkinesh has a dinky sidekick—a mini moon. The discovery was made during Wednesday's flyby of Dinkinesh, 300 million miles away in the main asteroid belt...

First to Suffer From Asteroid That Doomed Dinos: Plants

Dust particles in atmosphere shut down photosynthesis for 2 years: researchers

(Newser) - It wasn't so much the asteroid impact that killed 75% of the species on Earth some 66 million years ago, but the fact that, for the following two years, little, if anything, could grow. That's according to research offering the first in-depth study of dust particles thrown into...

OSIRIS-REx Is Jammed
OSIRIS-REx Is Jammed
Oct 24, 2023 8:17 AM CDT

OSIRIS-REx Is Jammed

NASA struggles to open container holding large sample from asteroid Bennu

(Newser) - OSIRIS-REx delivered the largest-ever asteroid sample to Earth, with a major catch. The container holding the sample from the near-Earth asteroid Bennu can't be opened. Teams at NASA's Johnson Space Center have been trying to open the round head at the end of OSIRIS-REx's articulated arm, called...

Chunk of Asteroid That Could Take Chunk Out of Earth Nears

OSIRIS-REx's sample from near-Earth asteroid Bennu to arrive in Utah on Sunday

(Newser) - There's a 1 in 2,700 chance that an asteroid known for its close flybys of Earth could smack into the planet in the next 160 years or so, which isn't very reassuring. NASA hopes, however, that the upcoming conclusion of a seven-year mission to retrieve samples from...

You Might Be Able to Glimpse This Asteroid

It's zipping by us, and even amateurs might spot 2023 DZ2 Friday night or Saturday

(Newser) - An asteroid big enough to wipe out a city will zip between Earth and the moon's orbit on Saturday, reports the AP . The close encounter will offer astronomers the chance to study a space rock from just over 100,000 miles away—that’s less than half the distance...

Asteroid Has a Small Chance of Hitting Earth on Feb. 14, 2046

NASA says DB 2023 isn't 'particularly concerning'

(Newser) - There's a very small but real chance that a space rock could ruin a lot of romantic evenings 23 years from now, according to NASA's Planetary Defense Office. The newly discovered asteroid, DB 2023, has a 1 in 560 chance of hitting Earth on Valentine's Day 2046,...

Close Encounter With Earth Changes Asteroid's Orbit

2023 BU came 'extraordinarily close' to our planet

(Newser) - The asteroid 2023 BU came very close to Earth Thursday evening, coming 10 times closer than many satellites. At its closest, at 7:27pm Eastern, it was 2,200 miles over the southern tip of South America, which "counts as a close shave," the BBC reports. But even...

Possible 'Planet Killer' Asteroid Found in Earth's Orbital Path

Future generations will want to keep an eye on it

(Newser) - Astronomers have discovered a new asteroid in our neighborhood: it's more than a mile wide, and its orbit around the sun crosses the Earth’s path, making it a potential "planet killer," according to a New York Times report on the rock known as 2022 APY. Not...

Here's Visual Proof That Our Asteroid Slam Worked

DART's collision with Dimorphos asteroid confirmed by 6.2K-mile-long debris trail

(Newser) - Astronomers know for certain that NASA's DART spacecraft slammed into a distant asteroid in a test of whether Earth-threatening space rocks might be diverted, because that asteroid is spewing a whole lot of rock and dust. Two days after the Sept. 26 Double Asteroid Redirection Test, a telescope in...

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