Asteroids, sometimes called minor planets, are rocky remnants left over from the early formation of our solar system about 4.6 billion years ago. The current known asteroid count is: . Most of this ancient space rubble can be found orbiting our Sun between Mars and …

Our solar system’s small bodies – asteroids, comets, and meteors – pack big surprises. These chunks of rock, ice, and metal are leftovers from the formation of our solar system 4.6 billion years ago.

The first known interstellar object to visit our solar system, 1I/2017 U1 ‘Oumuamua, was discovered Oct. 19, 2017 by the University of Hawaii’s Pan-STARRS1 telescope, funded by NASA’s Near-Earth Object Observations (NEOO) Program, which finds and tracks asteroids and comets in Earth’s neighborhood. While originally classified as a comet ...

2025年1月9日 · This paper identifies the top-level science issues, mission priorities, research and technology needs, and programmatic balance for the exploration of Asteroids. This paper was organized by the Small Bodies Assessment Group.

Meteors come from leftover comet particles and bits from broken asteroids. When comets come around the Sun, they leave a dusty trail behind them. Every year Earth passes through these debris trails, which allows the bits to collide with our atmosphere and disintegrate to create fiery and colorful streaks in the sky.

Asteroids, Comets & Meteors 1P/Halley In 1986, the European spacecraft Giotto became one of the first spacecraft ever to encounter and photograph the nucleus of a comet, passing and imaging Halley's nucleus as it receded from the Sun. Credit: Halley Multicolor Camera Team, Giotto Project, ESA | More about this image

2018年11月15日 · Asteroids are airless, miniature worlds. There are likely several million of them circling the Sun, but the confirmed count now stands at nearly 800,000. Some of them are solid, while others are more like clumps of loosely bound rubble. Many asteroids are irregularly shaped, like potatoes. Because they have little mass, asteroids have weak gravity.

Asteroids are leftover rocky parts of the solar system. Some have not changed very much in 4.5 billion years and some have partly melted. Others have completely melted and formed iron-nickel core with rocky material on top. All asteroids exhibit craters that record collisions between asteroids – big and small. They tell

Asteroids, Comets & Meteors 2P/Encke NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft imaged comet 2P/Encke during its closest approach of the planet Mercury at 22:56 UTC on November 17.

2025年1月9日 · NASA’s real-time science encyclopedia of deep space exploration. Our scientists and far-ranging robots explore the wild frontiers of our solar system.