Asteroids - Page 46

October 21, 2015

Ursid meteor shower peaks Saturday

The December Ursid meteor display peaks during the morning hours of Saturday, Dec. 23.

October 21, 2015

NASA details plans to pluck rock off asteroid, explore it

NASA is aiming to launch a rocket to an asteroid in five years and grab a boulder off of it — a stepping stone and training mission for an eventual trip sending humans to Mars. ...

October 21, 2015

Scientists ‘confident’ comet lander will wake up again

Scientists are confident that the Philae comet probe, which went into ‘sleep mode’ on Saturday, will ‘wake up’ again when the comet nears the sun.

October 21, 2015

Scientists face agonizing wait on comet probe’s future

After making history Wednesday by landing the first probe on the surface of a comet, European Space Agency scientists now face an agonizing wait to find out whether the Philae lander will continue sending data from 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.

October 21, 2015

Risky comet landing by European probe will be '7 hours of terror'

Landing a probe on a comet whizzing through deep space isn't easy, but this week, the European Space Agency (ESA) will attempt to do just that.

October 21, 2015

Comet giving astronomers 'wild ride'; one day looks about to die, looks better the next

For months, all eyes in the sky have pointed at the comet that's zooming toward a blisteringly close encounter with the sun. The moment of truth comes Thursday -- Thanksgiving Day.

October 21, 2015

Last glimpse of Comet ISON before Thursday encounter with sun

A NASA probe orbiting Mercury has returned new photos of Comet ISON, and a number of other spacecraft are all set to document the icy wanderer's much-anticipated solar flyby on Thursday.

October 21, 2015

Stunning comet ISON photographed by amateur astronomer

A spectacular set of photos taken by an amateur astrophotographer chronicles the evolution of Comet ISON over the last few months, which has seen the much-hyped icy wanderer brighten so much that it's now visible to the naked eye.

October 21, 2015

NASA's Hubble spies asteroid spouting six comet-like tails

An asteroid with six comet-like tails of dust radiating from it like a rotating lawn mower was spotted for the first time by NASA's Hubble Space telescope.

October 21, 2015

Meet the asteroid that might hit Earth in 2880

There are over 10,000 near-Earth objects (NEOs) that have been identified so far — asteroids and comets of varying sizes that approach the Earth’s orbital distance to within about 28 million miles.