Astronomy, features and articles | Educational Science

Nov 12, 2023

'Planet killer' asteroids are hiding in the sun's glare. Can we stop them in time?

On the morning of Feb. 15, 2013, a meteor the size of a semitrailer shot out from the direction of the rising sun and exploded in a fireball over the city of Chelyabinsk, Russia. Briefly glowing brighter than the sun itself, the meteor exploded with 30 times more energy than...

Dec 29, 2023

The 8 most Earth-shattering asteroid discoveries of 2023

Swarming through our solar system by the millions, asteroids are roving space rocks that carry clues to our universe's past — and the potential to destroy our future. In 2023, astronomers made enormous strides in studying these elusive objects. Two ambitious, multi-year missions to collect asteroid samples from space bore...

Jan 22, 2024

Scientists discover near-Earth asteroid hours before it exploded over Berlin

In the wee morning hours on Sunday (Jan. 21), a tiny asteroid came hurtling through the sky and smashed into Earth's atmosphere near Berlin, producing a bright but harmless fireball visible for miles around. Such sightings typically occur a few times a year — but this one was unique because...

Jan 22, 2024

At last: NASA's complete sample of the 'potentially hazardous' asteroid Bennu is finally freed from its canister

NASA scientists have finally disassembled the canister containing rocks snatched from a distant potentially hazardous asteroid, and now you can look inside. The sample — roughly 4.3 ounces (120 grams) of rocky space rubble that the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft collected from the asteroid Bennu — is thought to contain some of...

Jan 25, 2024

How NASA correctly predicted that a tiny asteroid would burn up over Germany, hours before it happened

Scientists accurately predicted a tiny asteroid's impact over the weekend, showcasing a capability that will come in handy if a bigger, more dangerous space rock lines Earth up in its crosshairs. Early Sunday morning (Jan. 21) German time, a roughly 3.3-foot-wide (1 meter) asteroid burned up in Earth's atmosphere near...

Jan 26, 2024

Airplane-size asteroid will have 'very close encounter' with Earth on Saturday — and you can watch it happen

An asteroid discovered earlier this month will reach its closest point to Earth on tomorrow (Jan. 27), when it will soar through the sky at a distance closer to us than the moon. You can watch the airplane-size asteroid as it sails just 220,000 miles (354,000 kilometers) from Earth —...

Jan 29, 2024

'This might be the seeds of life': Organic matter found on asteroid Ryugu could explain where life on Earth came from

A detailed investigation of asteroid Ryugu samples has provided further evidence that the organic molecules which gave rise to life to our planet were brought here by ancient comets. These space rock samples were returned to Earth by Japan's Hayabusa2 mission, which visited the spinning-top-like space rock Ryugu in 2018....

Feb 1, 2024

The Geminid meteors may be 10 times older than we thought, simulations of oddball asteroid Phaethon suggest

The rocks making up the Geminid meteor shower that occurs towards the end of every year may have been born through a chaotic event 18,000 years ago, a new study suggests — potentially making the meteoroids about 10 times older than previously estimated. The Geminid shower is named after the...

Feb 2, 2024

Watch 'city killer' asteroid fly by Earth today on its closest approach for centuries (Feb. 2)

UPDATE: You can watch the asteroid flyby on the video above for yourself thanks to a live stream from The Virtual Telescope Project, which will begin at 1:00 p.m. ET on Feb. 2. A potentially hazardous football stadium-size asteroid will zip safely past Earth on Friday (Feb. 2), and, in...

Feb 7, 2024

Asteroid Bennu may be 'a fragment of an ancient ocean world', 1st sample analysis suggests

Scientists are now inspecting snagged, bagged and tagged bits and pieces from asteroid Bennu, the cosmic mother lode delivered by NASA's Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification and Security — Regolith Explorer mission. Known in acronymic astro-speak as OSIRIS-REx, that seven-year-long voyage brought home the goods via a sample return canister...

Feb 13, 2024

Meteor that exploded over Germany confirmed to be rare 'aubrite' as old as the solar system itself

Fragments of an asteroid that exploded over Germany on Jan. 21 and were recovered five days later have been confirmed to be a rare space rock type that could help shed light on Earth's origins. As Live Science's sister site Space.com reported on Feb. 1, scientists suspected that the strange...

Feb 16, 2024

Water detected on the surface of an asteroid for the 1st time ever

Water molecules have been detected on the surface of an asteroid for the first time, revealing new clues about the distribution of water in our solar system. Scientists studied four silicate-rich asteroids using data gathered by the now-retired Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA), a telescope-outfitted plane operated by NASA...

Feb 16, 2024

'The law is way behind the time': Mining asteroids and the moon remains a huge legal gray area

Mining the moon and asteroids could be worth trillions upon trillions of dollars, and several companies have popped up with that mission in mind. But is space mining technically legal? For asteroids, the answer is probably yes, but for the moon, it's complicated, experts say. In 1967, 110 countries, including...

Feb 16, 2024

There's an asteroid out there worth $100,000 quadrillion. Why haven't we mined it?

On Oct. 13, 2023, NASA launched a mission to 16 Psyche, a large, metal-rich asteroid about six years away, to learn more about how planetary interiors form. The asteroid has a jaw-dropping estimated monetary value: $100,000 quadrillion. That's because 16 Psyche is a literal goldmine, packed with rare elements essential...

Feb 20, 2024

NASA grabbed a whopping 120 grams of rubble from asteroid Bennu, and it may contain the seeds of life

NASA scientists have finally tallied how much material a spacecraftsnatched from a distant potentially hazardous asteroid, and it turns out they've got more than double what they expected. The sample — roughly 4.3 ounces (122 grams) of rocky space rubble that the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft collected from the asteroid Bennu —...