Astronomers using the European Southern Observatory’s (ESO) New Technology Telescope (NTT) have found that different parts of the asteroid Itokawa have different densities, providing first evidence that asteroids can have a highly varied internal structure. Using very precise ground-based observations, Continue reading
The Chinese lunar orbiter Chang’e 2 has completed its flyby of asteroid Toutatis, a five-kilometer (three mile) long space rock that recently had a “close” encounter with Earth. The probe, which completed its primary moon-mapping mission in 2011, was commanded Continue reading
This week, NASA’s Goldstone radar is tracking a large asteroid as it passes by Earth, and obtaining unusually clear images of the tumbling space rock. “There is no danger of a collision with Earth,” says Lance Benner of NASA’s Near Continue reading
In a preliminary analysis of images from NASA’s Dawn mission, scientists have spotted intriguing gullies that sculpt the walls of geologically young craters on the giant asteroid Vesta. Led by Jennifer Scully, a Dawn team member at the University of Continue reading
A collage shows nine radar images of near-Earth asteroid 2007 PA8 that were obtained between Oct. 31 and Nov. 13, 2012, with data collected by NASA’s 230-foot-wide (70-meter) Deep Space Network antenna at Goldstone, Calif. On Nov. 5 at 8:42 Continue reading
Russia could start building a space rocket capable of destroying asteroids threatening the Earth, chief of rocket and space corporation Energia said Friday. “There are three large asteroids, including Apophis, whose orbits cross the Earth’s orbit and which could hit Continue reading