Asteroid

A small, irregularly shaped object made of metal (iron and nickel), rocky materials, or a combination of the two that orbits the Sun or another planet. Most of the asteroids orbit in a broad band between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. The largest is Ceres, which is about 600 miles (900 km) in diameter.

Resources

Remnants from the Beginning Whenever you build a new house, you always have...
Craters and Extinctions
Asteroids At the dawn of the 19th century, a group of...

Radio Programs

Bright Visitors Bright visitors from beyond Earth Monday, April 22, 2013
Messy Impact Debating a devastating impact Wednesday, April 17, 2013
Space Watch IV A very close encounter Thursday, February 14, 2013
Space Watch III Painting our way out of a jam Wednesday, February 13, 2013
Space Watch II Searching for cosmic bullets Tuesday, February 12, 2013
Space Watch A target in a cosmic shooting gallery Monday, February 11, 2013
Apophis Keeping an eye on a troublemaker Tuesday, January 8, 2013
OSIRIS-Rex Studying a threatening space rock Sunday, August 26, 2012
Homeworld Security Tracking down threats from space Saturday, August 25, 2012
Dawn II Piecing together the story of an asteroid Thursday, August 23, 2012
Dawn A witness to the dawn of the solar system Wednesday, August 22, 2012
Space Rocks Rocks from beyond Earth Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Another Encounter Keeping tabs on a rocky visitor Monday, November 7, 2011
Galileo at Gaspra A first encounter with a space rock Saturday, October 29, 2011
NEEMO Diving toward an asteroid Monday, October 17, 2011
Another Close Call A close visit by an asteroid Sunday, October 16, 2011

Featured Images

 Keeping Track Saturday, February 16, 2013
Chart showing the path of asteroid 2012 DA14 relative to Earth.
 Getting Close Thursday, February 14, 2013
View of the asteroid Vesta from the Dawn spacecraft
 Ready for Departure Thursday, August 23, 2012
Galileo view of Gaspra, the first asteroid visited by a spacecraft
 First Encounter Saturday, October 29, 2011
Dawn's first view of Vesta after entering orbit, July 2011
 Settling In Monday, July 18, 2011
Dawn spacecraft view of asteroid Vesta shortly before entering orbit
 First Stop Friday, July 15, 2011

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