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.
In October 2020, a van-sized robotic spacecraft briefly touched down on the surface of Bennu, a 525-meter-wide asteroid 320 million kilometers from Earth.
Planetary Sciences
Feb 2, 2025
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Curtin University researchers have gained an unprecedented glimpse into the early history of our solar system through some of the most well-preserved asteroid samples ever collected, potentially transforming our understanding ...
Astrobiology
Feb 2, 2025
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On 27 December last year, astronomers using the ATLAS survey telescope in Chile discovered a small asteroid moving away from Earth. Follow-up observations have revealed that the asteroid, 2024 YR4, is on a path that might ...
Astronomy
Feb 2, 2025
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Asteroid samples fetched by NASA hold not only the pristine building blocks for life but also the salty remains of an ancient water world, scientists reported Wednesday.
Astrobiology
Feb 1, 2025
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A colossal explosion in the sky, unleashing energy hundreds of times greater than the Hiroshima bomb. A blinding flash nearly as bright as the sun. Shockwaves powerful enough to flatten everything for miles.
Space Exploration
Feb 1, 2025
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A newly discovered asteroid has a tiny chance of smacking Earth in 2032, space agency officials said Wednesday.
Space Exploration
Jan 30, 2025
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It took two years for NASA's OSIRIS-REx space probe to return from asteroid Bennu before dropping off a small capsule as it flew past Earth, which was then recovered in the desert of the U.S. state of Utah on September 24, ...
Astrobiology
Jan 29, 2025
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116
Asteroids, small airless bodies within the inner solar system, are theorized to have contributed water and chemical building blocks of life to Earth billions of years ago. Although meteorites on Earth come from asteroids, ...
Astrobiology
Jan 29, 2025
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The organic material found in a few areas on the surface of dwarf planet Ceres is probably of exogenic origin. Impacting asteroids from the outer asteroid belt may have brought it with them.
Astrobiology
Jan 27, 2025
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A near-Earth object was likely ejected into space after an impact thousands of years ago. Now it could contribute new insights to asteroid and lunar science.
Planetary Sciences
Jan 22, 2025
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