asteroid belt

Astronomers have spotted three near-Earth asteroids (NEA) hiding in the glare of the Sun. Among these asteroids is one of the largest objects that is potentially hazardous to Earth to be discovered in the last eight years. This is a notoriously challenging region for observations because asteroid hunters must contend with the glare of the Sun. Asteroids frequently come near Earth, but they don't usually pose any danger since they pass the planet at a safe distance.NASA has also warned that an asteroid is on its way…

It has been one and a half years since one of the most ambitious missions of NASA, Lucy, took off for the largest planet in our solar system. The unmanned spacecraft was sent on a 12-year journey to ten different asteroids with a focus towards the Jupiter trojans, a large group of asteroids that share the planet Jupiter's orbit around the Sun. This is the first time NASA has conducted a mission to study these far-off asteroids. And recently, it took pictures of its target asteroids for the first time ever.According to a…

Can an asteroid threaten Earth's civilization? Well, the era of dinosaurs is believed to have ended because of an asteroid's collision with the planet! What are the evidences of a space object colliding with Earth? The evidence of such occurrences are a huge number of craters on Earth. Even the moon and other planetary bodies have these asteroid collision craters. "We believe anything larger than one to two kilometers could have worldwide effects," US space agency NASA stated. It also said that asteroids that populate…

Asteroid 2023 FY13 is on way and it is set to have a close encounter with Earth. Apart from tracking asteroids to get early warning about those that pose a threat to earth, scientists also study them to learn more about the early solar system and the conditions that existed when the planets were forming. These asteroids can not only provide valuable resources such as water, metals, and other minerals. Asteroids vary in the composition of their core materials. Some asteroids are made up of clay and silicate, while others…

Asteroids make close approaches to Earth almost every day, but how does NASA track these space rocks located millions of kilometers away in space? NASA telescopes such as the Pans-STARRS1 located in Maui, Hawaii, and the Catalina Sky Survey situated near Tucson, Arizona conduct surveys that have detected numerous near-Earth objects like asteroids, comets and more. Additionally, NEOWISE, NASA's space-based observatory, has identified hundreds of asteroids by scanning the skies with near-infrared wavelengths of light from…

An asteroid named Asteroid 2023 FS11 has been receiving a lot of attention lately from space agencies around the world as it is all set to make a close approach with Earth today. Although smaller asteroids make close approaches to Earth frequently, bigger asteroids seldom do. Even when asteroids come close to Earth, most of them burn up in the planet's atmosphere. The Near-Earth Object Observations Program, commonly called "Spaceguard," discovers these objects, characterizes a subset of them, and determines their orbits…

Asteroids vary in the composition of their core materials. Some asteroids are made up of clay and silicate, while others are made up of silicate materials and nickel-iron, according to NASA. These space rocks can provide valuable resources such as water, metals, and other minerals. Scientists also study asteroids to learn more about the early solar system and the conditions that existed when the planets were forming.NASA has recently issued an alert against an asteroid that is set to make a close approach to Earth as…

To study asteroids that are not in the asteroid belt and reveal those that are still unknown, NASA has the Lucy Space Mission in place. NASA launched the Lucy spacecraft on Oct. 16, 2021 from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. This is NASA's first space mission to study the Trojans, a group of asteroids which orbit the Sun in two groups, according to NASA. It is built to seek out trojan asteroids millions of kilometers from Earth.With the help of these space and ground-based telescopes, NASA has…

With the help of ground-based telescopes such as the Pans-STARRS1 in Maui, Hawaii and the Catalina Sky Survey near Tucson, Arizona, NASA has identified thousands of near-Earth objects such as asteroids. Moreover, NASA's space-based telescope called NEOWISE has identified hundreds of others while scanning the skies at near-infrared wavelengths of light from its polar orbit around Earth. NASA uses its ground-based radar to gather precise data about the asteroid's path and its characteristics.This advanced tech helps NASA…

Asteroids frequently come near Earth, but they don't usually pose any danger since they pass the planet at a safe distance. Shockingly, astronomers have spotted three near-Earth asteroids (NEA) hiding in the glare of the Sun. One of the asteroids is the largest object that is potentially hazardous to Earth to be discovered in the last eight years. This is a notoriously challenging region for observations because asteroid hunters must contend with the glare of the Sun.NASA has also warned that one potentially hazardous…