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.
An asteroid recently made the second closest pass to Earth ever observed on October 1st. And astronomers only found it after it had already completed its closest approach. That offers another lesson in how difficult it is ...
Planetary Sciences
Oct 9, 2025
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Surface features on asteroid 52246 Donaldjohanson, as identified by the Southwest Research Institute-led Lucy mission, have been given official names by the International Astronomical Union (IAU). The surface features of ...
Planetary Sciences
Oct 1, 2025
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Whether an asteroid is spinning neatly on its axis or tumbling chaotically, and how fast it is doing so, has been shown to be dependent on how frequently it has experienced collisions. The findings, presented at the recent ...
Planetary Sciences
Sep 30, 2025
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115
Young asteroids—which formed much later than those that were created during the formation of our solar system—are typically created when larger asteroids, planetesimals, or comets collide and break up into smaller pieces. ...
Exoplanets aren't the only objects floating around other stars—they likely have comets and asteroids as well. Even some of the exoplanets themselves will have "exomoons," at least according to our current understanding of ...
Astronomy
Sep 24, 2025
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30
An international study led by researchers at São Paulo State University (UNESP) in Brazil has identified a little-known but potentially significant threat: Asteroids that share Venus's orbit and may completely escape current ...
Astronomy
Sep 23, 2025
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Asteroid 2024 YR4 caused quite a stir last year when it was discovered and originally calculated to have a 3% chance of hitting Earth. Since then models have been refined and while it no longer has a chance of hitting Earth, ...
Planetary Sciences
Sep 22, 2025
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355
With help from amateur astronomers, scientists tracked how an asteroid traveled from space, broke up in Earth's atmosphere and sent fiery fragments shooting to the ground, gathering new information about how these space rocks ...
Planetary Sciences
Sep 21, 2025
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384
Astronomers have used observatories around the world, including the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope (ESO's VLT), to study the asteroid 1998 KY26, revealing it to be almost three times smaller and spinning ...
Astronomy
Sep 18, 2025
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81
Some asteroids are more dangerous than others, according to a report published in Nature Astronomy by an international team of researchers, led by astrophysicist Auriane Egal of the Montreal Planetarium in Canada. The team ...
Astronomy
Sep 17, 2025
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