Near-Earth objects (NEOs) as a research area encompass the observational, theoretical, and modeling studies of asteroids and comets whose orbits bring them into proximity with Earth, typically with perihelion distances less than 1.3 astronomical units. This field integrates asteroid/comet discovery surveys, orbit determination and dynamical evolution, physical and compositional characterization, impact probability assessment, and planetary defense strategies. Research includes population statistics, source regions and transport mechanisms from main-belt or trans-Neptunian reservoirs, surface and internal structure studies, non-gravitational forces such as the Yarkovsky effect, and development of mitigation techniques for potentially hazardous objects, often using ground-based telescopes, radar, and spacecraft missions.
In 2020, the Hayabusa2 uncrewed spacecraft successfully returned small fragments from the near-Earth asteroid Ryugu, providing the first pristine samples from a carbonaceous asteroid. Grains from those samples were studied ...
Astrobiology
Aug 25, 2025
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Asteroid Bennu—the target of NASA's OSIRIS-REx sample return mission, led by the University of Arizona—is a mixture of materials from throughout, and even beyond, our solar system. Over the past few billion years, its ...
Astronomy
Aug 22, 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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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 ...
A team of astronomers has taken the sharpest-ever picture of the unexpected interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS using the crisp vision of NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. Hubble is one of many missions across NASA's fleet of space ...
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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Predicting the precise path of a new asteroid or comet is a complex affair; the more observations you have, the better you know where an object will be, years hence.
Astronomy
Jul 7, 2025
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Astronomers manning an asteroid warning system caught a glimpse of a large, bright object zipping through the solar system late on July 1, 2025.
Astronomy
Jul 6, 2025
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China's Tianwen-2 probe continues on its journey to rendezvous with a near-Earth asteroid (NEA) before heading to the main asteroid belt. The second in China's interplanetary exploration program (which translates to "Questions ...
Planetary Sciences
Jul 3, 2025
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Asteroid 2024 YR4 made headlines earlier this year when its probability of impacting Earth in 2032 rose as high as 3%. While an Earth impact has now been ruled out, the asteroid's story continues.
Planetary Sciences
Jun 27, 2025
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