The number 40,000 might not sound particularly dramatic, but it represents humanity's growing catalog of near-Earth asteroids, rocky remnants from the solar system's violent birth that cross paths ...

Asteroids contain large quantities of both precious and common metals, and despite the obvious challenges in reaching them, a few startups say these celestial bodies could offer a sustainable ...

Asteroid Itokawa, pictured here, is a “rubble pile,” a loose conglomeration of rocks held together by mutual gravity. New research suggests it is possible to determine the internal character of ...

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. A hidden population of asteroids sharing Venus' orbit could threaten Earth in a few thousand ...

A possible threat to life on Earth has been identified by researchers at São Paulo State University (UNESP) in Brazil: asteroids that share Venus’s orbit but which currently can’t be detected. These ...

Some asteroids are more dangerous than others, according to a report issued this week in Nature Astronomy by an international team of researchers, led by astrophysicist Auriane Egal of the Montreal ...

Meteoroids When somewhat larger rocks stray into the solar system, they are meteoroids, and if a bit bigger, they come from asteroids or from comets. Because most of those tiny bits of dust end up ...

Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent every weekday. Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Asteroids may be wondrous windows into the history of the cosmos ...

Scientists studying asteroids found that two seemingly unrelated types share a strange dusty coating of troilite. By using polarization of light instead of traditional spectra, they uncovered evidence ...

To keep solar power stations from getting lazy, Sandia National Laboratories scientist John Sandusky is looking to give heliostat mirrors a side hustle. At the National Solar Thermal Test Facility ...

While about 20,000 previously unknown asteroids are discovered every year by telescopes around the world and spacecraft in orbit, the first images by the new Vera C. Rubin Observatory revealed 2,000 ...

The Vera C. Rubin Observatory is expected to find millions of unknown objects in our solar system, and perhaps even a mysterious Planet Nine. By Kenneth Chang Kenneth Chang visited the Vera C. Rubin ...