Astronomy, features and articles | Educational Science

Oct 18, 2022

Bizarre near-Earth asteroid is spinning faster every year — and scientists aren’t sure why

A potentially hazardous near-Earth asteroid is spinning faster and faster every year, and researchers aren't sure why. The space rock, known as 3200 Phaethon, is around 3.4 miles (5.4 kilometers) wide, and its orbit through the solar system takes it closer to the sun than any other named asteroid, reaching...

Oct 27, 2022

A monstrously large, 'potentially hazardous' asteroid will zip through Earth's orbit on Halloween

A newly discovered, potentially hazardous asteroid almost the size of the world's tallest skyscraper is set to tumble past Earth just in time for Halloween, according to NASA. The asteroid, called 2022 RM4, has an estimated diameter of between 1,083 and 2,428 feet (330 and 740 meters) — just under...

Oct 30, 2022

Collapsed Arecibo telescope offers near-Earth asteroid warning from beyond the grave

After collapsing into pieces in December 2020, the mighty Arecibo Observatory has a final parting gift for humanity — and it's a doozy. Using data collected by Arecibo between December 2017 and December 2019, scientists have released the largest radar-based report on near-Earth asteroids ever published. The report, published Sept....

Nov 7, 2022

'Planet killer' asteroid hiding in sun's glare could smash into Earth one day

A planet killer asteroid that is hiding in the glare of the sun has finally been detected, and the giant space rock could smash into Earth one day. The 0.9-mile-wide (1.5 kilometers) potentially hazardous asteroid, named 2022 AP7, is one of several large space rocks that astronomers recently discovered near...

Nov 11, 2022

Long-lost wreckage from the Challenger spacecraft discovered near Bermuda Triangle

NASA has confirmed that debris found on the ocean floor off Florida's Atlantic coast comes from the fallen space shuttle Challenger, which exploded on Jan. 28, 1986, killing all seven astronauts on board. Divers discovered the 20-foot (6 meters) section of Challenger's hull while searching for downed World War II-era...

Nov 18, 2022

4.6 billion-year-old meteorite may reveal the origin of Earth's water

An ancient meteorite that crash-landed on a U.K. driveway may have solved the mystery of where Earth's water came from. The 4.6 billion-year-old space rock, which landed in front of a family home in the English town of Winchcombe in February 2021, contains water that closely resembles the chemical composition...

Nov 22, 2022

Eerie green fireball detected hours before smashing into Lake Ontario in the dead of night

At half past 3:00 a.m. (EST) on Nov. 19, a bright green fireball streaked through the sky over the northeastern United States and southeastern Canada. Witnesses reported seeing a helicopter-like object cruising silently through the air before lighting up huge swathes of the night like an enormous lightning bolt. After...

Nov 28, 2022

Two minerals never seen before on Earth found inside 17-ton meteorite

Two minerals that have never been seen before on Earth have been discovered inside a massive meteorite in Somalia. They could hold important clues to how asteroids form. The two brand new minerals were found inside a single 2.5 ounce (70 gram) slice taken from the 16.5 ton (15 metric...

Dec 7, 2022

Radioactive space rocks could have seeded life on Earth, new research suggests

A special type of radioactive meteorite could have seeded life on Earth, a new study found. Carbonaceous chondrites, a type of radioactive meteorite chock full of water and organic compounds, produce energetic gamma rays that can drive the chemical reactions to synthesize amino acids — the building blocks of life...

Jan 23, 2023

Primordial asteroids are like giant space pillows and could be harder to destroy than previously thought

Dust collected from the surface of an ancient, peanut-shaped and potentially-hazardous asteroid has revealed that some space rocks are much bouncier and harder to destroy than first thought — posing concerns about Earth’s long-term safety. The analysis of three tiny dust particles — gathered from the surface of the 1640-foot-long...

Jan 26, 2023

Asteroid set to make 'extraordinarily close' approach to Earth tonight. Here's how to watch.

A small but zippy asteroid will pass close to Earth on Thursday, not to be seen again until 2036. Asteroid 2023 BU is only about 12 to 26.9 feet (3.7 to 8.2 meters) in diameter and was discovered less than a week ago on January 21 by amateur astronomer Gennadiy...

Feb 15, 2023

'Potentially hazardous' asteroid twice the size of the World Trade Center will shoot past Earth tonight

An asteroid the size of five to 10 football fields will zip safely by Earth tonight (Feb. 15). At its closest approach, asteroid (199145) 2005 YY128 will still be about 2.8 million miles (4.5 million kilometers) from Earth, or 12 times the average distance between Earth and the moon. However,...

Feb 21, 2023

'Potentially hazardous' asteroid that recently zipped past Earth is an elongated weirdo with an odd rotation

Astronomers recently got an up-close look at a potentially hazardous asteroid as it whizzed safely past Earth, and what they saw caught them by surprise: The space rock is unusually elongated for an asteroid and is spinning much more slowly than expected. The asteroidal anomaly, known as 2011 AG5, was...

Feb 27, 2023

NASA warns of 3 skyscraper-sized asteroids headed toward Earth this week. Thankfully, they'll all miss.

Our solar system is home to millions of renegade space rocks, and this week three particularly large ones will blaze past Earth. But don't worry – the closest one will still miss our planet by a comfy 2.2 million miles (3.5 million kilometers), or about 10 times the average distance...

Feb 28, 2023

'Building blocks of life' recovered from asteroid Ryugu are older than the solar system itself

The asteroid Ryugu, which orbits the sun between Earth and Mars, contains many of the building blocks for life, a new analysis finds. The study, published Feb. 23 in the journal Science, is one of the first peeks at the samples from Ryugu brought back by Japan's Hayabusa2 spacecraft in...