Asteroids as a research area encompasses the scientific investigation of small rocky bodies primarily located in the asteroid belt and throughout the Solar System, focusing on their composition, internal structure, dynamical evolution, and role in planetary formation and collisional processes. This field integrates observational astronomy, spectroscopy, celestial mechanics, planetary geology, and space mission data to constrain asteroid taxonomies, surface and subsurface properties, impact hazards, and resource potential. Research addresses accretion and differentiation histories, space weathering, binary and rubble-pile formation, migration mechanisms, and their contribution to the delivery of volatiles and organics to terrestrial planets, providing constraints on early Solar System conditions.
Approximately 4.6 billion years ago, our solar system formed from a huge disk of gas and dust orbiting our sun. The asteroids seen today are some of the most complete artifacts of this formation that are left to observe. ...
Astronomy
Aug 21, 2025
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New NASA research has found that Ceres may have had a lasting source of chemical energy: the right types of molecules needed to fuel some microbial metabolisms. Although there is no evidence that microorganisms ever existed ...
Astrobiology
Aug 20, 2025
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Headed for a metal-rich asteroid of the same name, the Psyche spacecraft successfully calibrated its cameras by looking homeward.
Astronomy
Aug 19, 2025
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A Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) review of data collected from near-Earth asteroids Bennu and Ryugu supports the hypothesis that they were originally part of the Polana collisional family in the main asteroid belt between ...
Planetary Sciences
Aug 18, 2025
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The Lucy spacecraft is already well on its way to Jupiter's Trojan asteroids. But that doesn't mean that it can't make some improvements to its trajectory along the way. A new paper suggests it might be possible to nudge ...
Space Exploration
Aug 11, 2025
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The resources tucked away in asteroids promise to provide the building blocks of humanity's expansion into space. However, accessing those resources can prove tricky. There's the engineering challenge of landing a spacecraft ...
Space Exploration
Aug 11, 2025
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Most people are aware that an asteroid wiped out much of life on Earth around 65 million years ago, and this knowledge contributes to that chill of fear that many people experience, at least occasionally, that something like ...
ESA's Hera mission has captured images of asteroids (1126) Otero and (18805) Kellyday. Though distant and faint, the early observations serve as both a successful instrument test and a demonstration of agile spacecraft operations ...
Astronomy
Aug 7, 2025
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Since 2017, three interstellar objects have been spotted passing through our solar system: 1I/ʻOumuamua, 2I/Borisov… and just this month, 3I/ATLAS. Discovered on July 1 by the Asteroid Terrestrial-Impact Last Alert Survey, ...
Planetary Sciences
Aug 4, 2025
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200
Sandia scientist John Sandusky believes he has found a way to put heliostats, which typically turn solar energy into electricity, to work in the dark.
Space Exploration
Jul 24, 2025
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