Keyword: asteroids
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In a new study published Thursday in the journal Science, researchers pieced together the chemical identity of the asteroid that fueled the planet’s fifth mass extinction event. Sixty-six million years ago, the story of life on Earth took a dramatic turn when an asteroid collided with what’s now the Yucatán Peninsula in Chicxulub, Mexico. The aftereffects of the collision resulted in the extinction of an estimated 75% of animal species, including most dinosaurs except for birds. But practically nothing of the asteroid itself remains. In a new study published Thursday in the journal Science, researchers pieced together the chemical identity...
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A bright green fireball illuminated the night sky over Montana, U.S., at approximately 05:45 UTC on May 21, 2024 (23:45 LT, May 20). The American Meteor Society (AMS) received 65 reports from users in Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and Washington, U.S., as well as in Alberta, Canada. This event follows an exceptionally bright meteor over Spain and Portugal on May 18. The meteor was described as unreal, massive, and a once-in-a-lifetime event. “That’s crazy! Mad props to the person that was able to get this footage,” one eyewitness wrote on X.
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Our cosmic neighborhood is littered with asteroids. Scientists have already discovered more than 1.3 million of the space rocks, most of which lie in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, according to NASA. There are likely hundreds of thousands if not millions more asteroids waiting to be discovered. However, these remaining space rocks are likely the smallest and therefore faintest bodies in the solar system, which makes them very hard to spot.In the new study, published March 15 in the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics, researchers highlighted 1,031 previously uncategorized asteroids from archival Hubble data. They were identified by artificial...
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Scientists have calculated the rotational speed of asteroid 2024 BX1, which exploded over Berlin earlier this year, by letting it trail in images of the sky. It turns out, 2024 BX1 was spinning faster than any other near-Earth object ever seen...The space rock, dubbed 2024 BX1, turned into a fireball and exploded over Berlin in the early hours of Jan. 21. Although small asteroids on collision courses with Earth are typically detected only when they crash into the atmosphere, scientists spotted this one roughly three hours before impact.That's not the only way 2024 BX1 was unusual, according to a paper...
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...Unlike most near-Earth asteroids, which are thought to hail from the main asteroid belt between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, asteroid 2016 HO3, also known as Kamo'oalewa, was likely blasted from the Giordano Bruno crater on the moon's far side and has been hurtling through space for several million years...Measuring between 150 and 190 feet in diameter, the asteroid is about half the size of the "London Eye" Ferris wheel...Previous research pointing to Kamo'oalewa likely originating from the moon included its reflectance spectrum, which is more compatible with lunar materials rather than the general population of near-Earth asteroids, and...
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Computer simulations reveal that the close flyby of Apophis, the "God of Chaos" asteroid, in 2029 still poses no risk to Earth, even when a worrying, previously unrecognized factor is taken into account. There is almost zero chance that the infamous city-killer asteroid "Apophis" will hit Earth when it zips closely past our planet in 2029 — even when a previously unconsidered factor is taken into account, a new study shows. Apophis is a peanut-shaped space rock spanning around 1,100 feet (340 meters) across that was left behind by the formation of the solar system around 4.6 billion years ago....
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Astronomers have detected water molecules on the surface of asteroids for the first time, a surprising find given that the space rocks were thought to be “completely dry.” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Water molecules have been detected on the surface of asteroids for the first time, proving that these remnants from the formation of our solar system aren’t just dried-up space rocks. Astronomers believe that the impact of asteroids crashing into our planet may have helped deliver water and other elements to early Earth, so finding evidence of water on asteroids could support that theory, according to a new study. The data was...
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NEO 2003 SD220 on screen. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ How can humans protect the Earth from "devastating asteroid and comet impacts?" According to the National Academies and their 2023-2032 Planetary Science and Astrobiology Decadal Survey, ground based astronomical radar systems will have a "unique role" to play in planetary defense. There is currently only one system in the world concentrating on these efforts, NASA's Goldstone Solar System Radar, part of the Deep Space Network (DSN). However, a new instrument concept from the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) called the next generation RADAR (ngRADAR) system will use the National Science Foundation's Green Bank Telescope...
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Small asteroid hits Earth on January 21, 2024In the late-night hours of January 21, 2024 – 90 minutes before impact over European skies – NASA said a small asteroid would hit Earth’s atmosphere. And hit it did. The space rock struck on schedule above an area west of Berlin, Germany. The asteroid was only about 1 meter (3 feet) in diameter. It posed no danger to people on the ground. Yet it’s possible the asteroid might have spread small meteorites over the landscape.
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Original story belowUpdate, Dec. 25, 9:47 p.m. ET: The risk of an impact by asteroid 2004 MN4 went up slightly on Saturday, Dec. 25. It is now pegged at having a 1-in -45 chance of striking the planet on April 13, 2029. That's up from 1-in-63 late on Dec. 24, and 1-in-300 early on Dec. 24. Astronomers still stress that it is very likely the risk will be reduced to zero with further observations. And even as it stands with present knowledge, the chances are 97.8 percent the rock will miss Earth.Update, Dec. 24, 10:19 p.m. ET: An asteroid that...
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A very interesting space mission that is at the same time kind of frightening: A NASA spacecraft that recently returned from deep space has been relaunched for a mission to study the "God of Chaos" asteroid as it begins to near Earth's orbit. The agency's spacecraft OSIRIS-REx — now named the OSIRIS-APEX — has been sent off to study the asteroid Apophis' extremely close flyby of Earth in 2029, the likes of which "hasn't happened since the dawn of recorded history," NASA announced. Oh really, an asteroid is making an "extremely close flyby" of our fragile planet in 5ish years?...
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In the European Physical Journal Plus, Rafelski and two colleagues mathematically demonstrated that the existence of CUDOs (compact ultra dense objects) do not have dark matter, but are filled with unknown classes of chemical elements beyond the periodic table that are much denser than osmium.
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Scientists believe Kamo’oalewa will remain alongside Earth for millions of years. Could a near-Earth asteroid be a piece of the moon? Astronomers from the University of Arizona believe so. In a captivating cosmic discovery, scientists uncovered evidence suggesting that a near-Earth asteroid called Kamo’oalewa might be a fragment of the moon. The finding challenges previous assumptions about the origins of near-Earth asteroids and could have significant implications for our understanding of celestial bodies close to our planet.
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A SpaceX Falcon Heavy launches the Psyche mission. The orbiter mission will explore the origin of planetary cores by studying the metallic asteroid 16 Psyche. 16 Psyche is the heaviest known M-type asteroid. The mass of the payload is 2,600 kg. Instantaneous Launch Window: October 13th at 10:19AM EDT (14:19 UTC)
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Agriculture in Syria started with a bang 12,800 years ago as a fragmented comet slammed into the Earth's atmosphere. The explosion and subsequent environmental changes forced hunter-gatherers in the prehistoric settlement of Abu Hureyra to adopt agricultural practices to boost their chances for survival. That's the assertion made by an international group of scientists in one of four related research papers, all appearing in the journal Science Open: Airbursts and Cratering Impacts. The papers are the latest results in the investigation of the Younger Dryas Impact Hypothesis, the idea that an anomalous cooling of the Earth almost 13 millennia ago...
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Psyche Spacecraft at the Asteroid Psyche (Illustration) This illustration depicts NASA’s Psyche spacecraft. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU Now that fueling and testing are complete, NASA’s Psyche spacecraft is ready to meet its ride – a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket. The launch is now targeting 10:34 a.m. EDT on Thursday, October 5 from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida after optimizing the trajectory for the mission to study a metal-rich asteroid. Craft Integration Technicians connected Psyche to the payload attach fitting at Astrotech Space Operations facility in Titusville, Florida. This hardware allows Psyche to connect to the top of...
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oom At 12:37 a.m. EDT (10:37 a.m. MDT), a helicopter gently placed NASA’s OSIRIS-REx sample capsule, attached to the end of a 100-foot cable, on the ground outside a hangar on the Department of Defense’s Utah Test and Training Range. Two technicians on the ground helped guide the capsule down. Once the helicopter line was detached and the helicopter had departed, the clean room team removed the capsule from its metal transport cradle. They loaded the capsule onto a cart and wheeled it into the hangar where a temporary clean room had been set up. In the hangar, the capsule...
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Early morning on Sunday, Sept. 24, the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft’s sample capsule will come face-to-face with Earth’s atmosphere for the first time since the mission’s 2016 launch. On board are an estimated 8.8 ounces, or 250 grams, of rocky material collected from the surface of Bennu in 2020 – NASA’s first asteroid sample and the largest ever collected in space. When it approaches Earth, the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft won’t slow down as it makes its sample drop-off. Instead, when it reaches 63,000 miles (or 102,000 kilometers) above Earth’s surface – about one-third the distance from Earth to the Moon – a message...
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Geologists have recently discovered two alien minerals unknown to Earth in a meteorite in Somalia. A small, 2.5 ounce (70-gram) fragment of the fifteen thousand kilogram fallen comet known as El Ali revealed the alien ore. Scientists stumbled upon the unknown mineral in the meteorite while sampling a slice. It was only after analyzing the segment in a lab that they realized they had discovered something completely new. Alien minerals in El Ali meteorite Researchers, scientists, and geologists are excited by the revelation, as it might help them understand more about asteroids and how they form as well as the...
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When the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft swings by Earth on Sunday, it is expected to deliver a rare cosmic gift: a pristine sample collected from the near-Earth asteroid Bennu If all goes according to plan, the spacecraft will release a capsule containing an estimated 8.8 ounces of asteroid rocks and soil from space toward a landing zone in the Utah desert. NASA will provide a live stream of the sample delivery beginning at 10 a.m. ET Sunday. The capsule is expected to enter Earth’s atmosphere at 10:42 a.m. ET, traveling about 27,650 miles per hour (44,498 kilometers per hour). It will land...
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