Related topics: earth · nasa · solar system · orbit · meteorite

NASA volunteers find 15 rare 'active asteroids'

Some extraordinary asteroids have "activity"—comet-like tails or envelopes of gas and dust. NASA's Active Asteroids project announced the discovery of activity on 15 asteroids, challenging conventional wisdom about the ...

NASA Pi Day challenge serves up a mathematical marvel

March 14 marks the annual celebration of the mathematical constant pi, aka the Greek letter π. Its infinite number of digits is usually rounded to 3.14, hence the date of Pi Day. For some people, the occasion marks an annual ...

Cosmic dust could have helped get life going on Earth

Life on our planet appeared early in Earth's history. Surprisingly early, since in its early youth our planet didn't have much of the chemical ingredients necessary for life to evolve. Since prebiotic chemicals such as sugars ...

There's one last place Planet Nine could be hiding

A study recently submitted to The Astronomical Journal continues to search for the elusive Planet Nine (also called Planet X), which is a hypothetical planet that potentially orbits in the outer reaches of the solar system ...

NASA's new experimental antenna tracks deep space laser

An experimental antenna has received both radio frequency and near-infrared laser signals from NASA's Psyche spacecraft as it travels through deep space. This shows it's possible for the giant dish antennas of NASA's Deep ...

Asteroid making its closest approach to Earth this week

On 4 February, asteroid 2011 MD will make its closest approach to the Earth. Though it will not be visible with the naked eye, the asteroid will pass 15,000,000 km away from Earth—much closer than those in the asteroid ...

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Asteroid

Asteroids, sometimes called minor planets or planetoids, are small Solar System bodies in orbit around the Sun, especially in the inner Solar System; they are smaller than planets but larger than meteoroids. The term "asteroid" has historically been applied primarily to bodies in the inner Solar System since the outer Solar System was poorly known when it came into common usage. The distinction between asteroids and comets is made on visual appearance: Comets show a perceptible coma while asteroids do not.

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