MAIN ASTEROID BELT Planetary leftovers, ruled by Ceres

How Can We Protect Earth?

Major impacts from asteroids have happened throughout Earth’s history and will happen again in the future. Impacts big enough to affect large populations of humans are extremely rare, and currently there are no known objects threatening us for the next 1,000 years. But, considering the devastating consequences, we’re not taking any chances. NASA’s Planetary Defense is scanning the skies and creating a plan of action should anything dangerous be found. Blowing up an asteroid, like in movies, is not a good idea. It would likely take more energy than all weapons on Earth combined, and could send many smaller but still threatening pieces hurdling toward us. Instead, the plan is to find the threat early enough that a small nudge will throw it off course, missing Earth entirely. The DART mission was the first test of this method, and in 2022 it successfully crashed a spacecraft into an asteroid and measurably changed its motion. Read More

Latest News About Asteroids and Comets

The tail of comet C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS spanned the view of the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) on Oct. 10, 2024

ESA/NASA's SOHO spies bright comet making debut in evening sky

October 11, 2024

The ESA and SOHO has captured images of the second-brightest comet to ever pass through its field of view. Read more

SEM/EDS analyses of A0218 extracted particle.

Ryugu sample analyses show asteroids may have delivered compounds needed to start life on Earth

October 8, 2024

A team of researchers describes their study of a small sample of material collected from Ryugu. Read more

Here’s a view of dwarf planet Ceres in false color. This view makes it easy to see the bright spots on Ceres’ surface.

Dwarf planet Ceres might have been a muddy ocean world

October 4, 2024

Ceres might have been an ‘ocean world’ but with a dirty, muddy ocean. Read more

About two million years after the formation of the Solar System, the first carbonaceous chondrites made of dust, chondrules, early condensates and iron-nickel grains agglomerated outside the orbit of the still young Jupiter

Ryugu samples call into question previous ideas about the formation of carbon-rich asteroids

September 27, 2024

New research suggests that Ryugu was formed near Jupiter. Read more

2nd Kuiper Belt? Our solar system may be much larger than thought

September 18, 2024

Eleven objects found at the extremities of the solar system could mark the location of a 'Kuiper Belt 2.' Read more

NASA’s Dawn spacecraft captured this approximately true-color image of Ceres in 2015 as it approached the dwarf planet. Dawn showed that some polar craters on Ceres hold ancient ice, but new research suggests the ice is much younger.

Actually, Ceres might have formed in the Asteroid Belt after all

September 18, 2024

Thanks to a deeper analysis of NASA's Dawn data, Consus Crater could point to Ceres’s origin in the Asteroid Belt Read more

A new study shows that some 4 billion years ago, a giant asteroid slammed into Jupiter’s moon Ganymede, shifting its axis. Ganymede is the largest of Jupiter’s moons and the largest moon in our solar system

Jupiter’s moon slammed and tipped by giant asteroid?

September 5, 2024

4 billion years ago, a behemoth asteroid – perhaps 20 times larger than the dinosaur-killer – slammed into Ganymede Read more

This high-resolution view of the asteroid Dimorphos was created by combining the final 10 full-frame images obtained by the NASA DART probe's Didymos Reconnaissance and Asteroid Camera for Optical navigation (DRACO) and layering the higher-resolution images on top of the lower-resolution ones

No, NASA's DART asteroid impact probably won't spark meteor showers on Earth — but maybe on Mars

August 30, 2024

The ejecta highlight the ongoing exchange of material between planetary bodies Read more

A mirror that was later installed inside the telescope for NASA’s Near-Earth Object Surveyor shows a reflection of principal optical engineer Brian Monacelli during an inspection of the mirror’s surface at the agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Work is under way on NASA’s next-generation asteroid hunter

August 28, 2024

The mirrors for NASA’s Near-Earth Object Surveyor space telescope are being installed and aligned Read more

An illustration depicting NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) spacecraft prior to impact at the Didymos binary asteroid system

NASA's DART impact permanently changed the shape and orbit of asteroid moon

August 23, 2024

Dimorphos may start to "tumble" chaotically in its attempts to move back into gravitational equilibrium Read more

What would happen if we nuked an asteroid?

August 20, 2024

Thanks to blockbuster movies, most people might assume that it's the best course of action Read more

Some 66 million years ago, a large asteroid slammed into Earth, creating a massive crater just off Mexico (shown in this artist’s illustration)

The asteroid that may have killed the dinosaurs came from beyond Jupiter

August 15, 2024

Chemical clues left in the impact crater can help trace the space rock’s origins Read more

This illustrates the orbits of more than 150,000 asteroids seen by Gaia as part of its data release 3. The orbits shown here extend from the inner solar system to the orbit of Jupiter

Gaia finds hundreds of asteroid moons

August 10, 2024

The amazing mission to chart stars in the Milky Way Galaxy is also an expert asteroid hunter Read more

Researchers may have discovered what they say is the world’s oldest calendar tracking the movements of the moon and the sun in today’s Turkey

Ancient calendar, recently discovered, may document a long-ago disaster

August 10, 2024

They may memorialize a time when comet fragments struck Earth Read more

The tinfoil-covered vial at right holds about four grams of an asteroid brought to Earth from deep space

Inside scientists’ quest to find the secrets of life in four grams of asteroid dust

August 9, 2024

The “O” in OSIRIS-REx stands for “Origins,” the beginning of everything on Earth Read more

An image of Didymos and Dimorphos comprising of data collected by DART

NASA's DART asteroid impact mission revealed ages of twin space rock targets

July 30, 2024

Dimorphos was formed by material shed from Didymos around 0.3 million years ago Read more

Voila: 120 milligrams of genuine Bennu sample. Greg Brennecka looks in awe as the Bennu sample is removed from the stainless steel container that held it

Bennu asteroid samples unveiled

July 16, 2024

In a discreet vacuumed-packed container inside a FedEx box lies a piece of ancient history; extremely ancient history Read more

Artist's impression of ESA's Rapid Apophis Mission for Space Safety

Europe announces new mission to infamous asteroid Apophis

July 16, 2024

It will scout out Apophis before and after the asteroid’s super-close flyby of Earth in 2029 Read more

The near-Earth asteroid Bennu displayed signs of outgassing not visible from Earth but detectable when viewed from close-up by NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft

'Dark comets' may have given Earth its water long ago

July 12, 2024

There may be more objects like this out there. This could be a significant fraction of the nearest population Read more

Shocked quartz grains, with fissures filled with meltglass

New study reveals comet airburst evidence from 12,800 years ago

June 26, 2024

Researchers continue to expand the case for the Younger Dryas Impact hypothesis Read more

$A tiny fraction of the asteroid Bennu sample returned by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission, shown in microscope images$

Phosphate in NASA's OSIRIS-REx asteroid sample suggests space rock Bennu hails from an ocean world

June 26, 2024

It could contain insights into the origin of life on Earth Read more

Artwork showing the Hayabusa2 spacecraft retrieving a sample from the surface of the asteroid Ryugu

With x-ray analysis, an asteroid provides a view into our Solar System’s past

June 24, 2024

Imagine opening a time capsule, hoping to learn about the ancient past Read more

Asteroid moonlet Dimorphos as seen by NASA's DART spacecraft 11 seconds before the impact that shifted its path through space, in the first test of asteroid deflection

Asteroid headed toward Earth? NASA simulation explores how the nation might respond

June 21, 2024

What if we discovered a giant asteroid with a 72% chance of hitting us in 14 years Read more

Asteroid Dinky on the left and its little moon, Selam, on the right

Asteroid 'Dinky,' visited by NASA's Lucy spacecraft, birthed its own moon

May 29, 2024

The first contact-binary satellite of an asteroid was spun off its parent space rock Read more

A composite photo of Mars with its twin moons Phobos and Deimos

Lost photos suggest Mars' mysterious moon Phobos may be a trapped comet in disguise

May 22, 2024

Researchers have puzzled over the origins of Phobos and Deimos Read more

How the perils of space have affected asteroid Ryugu

May 19, 2024

Ryugu's parent body appears to have had a fair amount of water present, too Read more

A view of eight sample trays containing the final material from asteroid Bennu

NASA’s asteroid Bennu samples have rocks unlike any meteorite ever found

May 15, 2024

Early results have uncovered exotic versions of chondrules Read more

An artist’s impression of an asteroid collision that subsequently forms a family of smaller asteroids

Where did Earth's water come from? This ancient asteroid family may help us find out

May 15, 2024

The Erigone family of asteroids are water-rich space rocks Read more

Observation of the asteroid 2023 CX1 nine minutes before impact from the Schiaparelli Observatory in Italy

Asteroid that exploded over Berlin was fastest-spinning space rock ever recorded

May 10, 2024

The asteroid, which was traveling 31,000 mph, was rotating once every 2.6 seconds Read more

Fascinating Facts About The Main Asteroid Belt

The asteroid belt is estimated to contain between 1.1 and 1.9 million asteroids larger than 1 kilometer in diameter and millions of smaller ones.
Ceres is the largest asteroid in the inner Solar System and the only one classified as a dwarf planet.
Ceres, Vesta, Pallas and Hygiea contain about half of the mass of the entire asteroid belt.
The average distance between two asteroids in the belt is about 950,000 kilometers.
Kirkwood gaps in the asteroid belt are relatively empty regions thought to be a result of Jupiter’s gravitational pull and correspond to the planet’s orbital resonances.
Ceres is the only object in the asteroid belt known to be in hydrostatic equilibrium, meaning its own gravity causes it to be roughly spherical in shape.
Ceres is the only object in the asteroid belt where water has been discovered; the water is seen as vapor rising from the surface, possibly from erupting icy volcanoes.
Vesta is the brightest asteroid in the Solar System and the only object in the asteroid belt visible from Earth without a telescope.

Missions

OSIRIS-REx (2016-present)
NASA spacecraft to collect and return a sample from near-Earth asteroid Bennu

Hayabusa2 (2014-2020)
Japanese spacecraft to collect and return of a sample from near-Earth asteroid Ryugu

Dawn (2007-2018)
NASA spacecraft to study Vesta and Ceres in the Main Asteroid Belt

Deep Impact (2005-2006)
NASA spacecraft to look beneath surface of comet Tempel 1 by observing planned impact of projectile

Rosetta (2004-2016)
European spacecraft, and Philae lander, to study and land on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko

Hayabusa (2003-2010)
Japanese spacecraft, and MINERVA lander, to collect and return a sample from near-Earth asteroid Itokawa

Stardust/Stardust NExT (1999-2011)
NASA spacecraft to collect and return dust from comet Wild 2 to Earth and explore comet Tempel 1