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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

Craters and Extinctions February 19, 2016
Asteroid

Asteroids February 19, 2016

Remnants from the Beginning June 10, 2010

Featured Images

Osiris-Rex makes contact with the asteroid Bennu

What a Blast! October 22, 2020
Image of OSIRIS-Rex landing site, with diagram of the spacecraft

Getting Close October 18, 2020
artist's concept of aftermath of a collision around NGC 2547-ID8

Messy Star System October 25, 2019
Dawn view of Ceres

A Planet That Never Was May 27, 2019
dust tails behind a disintegrating asteroid

Dusty Demise April 1, 2019
Fireball over Bering Sea

Fireball March 24, 2019
Hayabusa 2 on Ryugu; Beresheet heads for the Moon

Space Shots February 22, 2019
New Horizons encounters Ultima Thule

Bowling a Strike January 2, 2019
Asteroid Bennu from a distance of 85 miles

Getting Close November 29, 2018
Views of the asteroid Hyabusa from a small robotic lander

Rocky Road October 15, 2018
Views from the Hayabusa 2 mission to Ryugu

Asteroid Hopper October 6, 2018
Galileo view of asteroid Gaspra and its moon, Ida

Chip off the old Asteroid August 28, 2018
Hyabusa-2 view of asteroid Ryugu, June 24, 2018

Nearly There June 27, 2018
Space-dust collecting aircraft

Dust Collector June 19, 2018
True-color view of Ceres

Ceres at Opposition February 1, 2018
1I/‘Oumuamua

Odd Visitor January 22, 2018
Hubble view of Abel 370 galaxy cluster with intervening asteroids

Interlopers November 5, 2017
The layered structure of Ceres

Icy Layers May 2, 2017
Diagram of the asteroid belt

Leftovers May 1, 2017
Artist's concepts of Lucy, Psyche asteroid missions

Time Machines March 20, 2017
Artist's concept of 2016 WF9

Heading In January 1, 2017
Galileo view of the asteroid Gaspra

First Look July 30, 2016
Radio view of asteroid 2015 TB145, which will pass close to Earth on Halloween

Boo! October 31, 2015
Dawn images of north pole of Ceres

Over the Top April 17, 2015
A full rotation of Ceres as seen by the Dawn mission

Final Approach March 3, 2015
Dawn image of mysterious bright spots on Ceres, February 19, 2015

Bright Mysteries February 26, 2015
Dawn image of Ceres, January 25, 2015

Getting Closer January 28, 2015
A giant asteroid slams into Earth, leading to global extinctions

Impact! January 6, 2014

Keeping Track February 16, 2013
Chart showing the path of asteroid 2012 DA14 relative to Earth.

Getting Close February 14, 2013
View of the asteroid Vesta from the Dawn spacecraft

Ready for Departure August 23, 2012
Galileo view of Gaspra, the first asteroid visited by a spacecraft

First Encounter October 29, 2011
Dawn's first view of Vesta after entering orbit, July 2011

Settling In July 18, 2011
Dawn spacecraft view of asteroid Vesta shortly before entering orbit

First Stop July 15, 2011
The path of asteroid 2011 MD as it passes Earth, June 2011

Close Call June 25, 2011

Impact! February 3, 2010

Radio Programs

Ready for Touchdown Getting ready for touchdown October 19, 2020

Getting Close Getting close to an asteroid October 18, 2020

Separated at Birth Two asteroids with a single parent October 17, 2020

Hayabusa A precious cargo from beyond Earth June 13, 2020

Cometary Water Splashing cool water on a hot debate November 6, 2019

Moon and Mars The Red Planet gets wet October 25, 2019

Moon and Regulus A barrage from the asteroid belt October 22, 2019

Making Glass A fiery birth for a Sun god August 12, 2019

Allende Meteorite Rocks that are older than Earth February 8, 2019

A Short Visit Studying a visitor from beyond February 6, 2019

Dusty Display An asteroid spawns a lightshow December 12, 2018

OSIRIS-REx Snuggling up to an asteroid November 29, 2018

Close Visitor A close visit by a space rock October 16, 2018

Asteroid Moons Chips off the old asteroid August 28, 2018

Catching Dust Catching dust in the stratosphere June 19, 2018

Radar Asteroids Tracking asteroids with radar June 14, 2018

Invaders Making it simple for alien invaders May 16, 2018

Phaethon A meteor shower with a difference December 11, 2017

Protecting Earth Protecting Earth from space rocks October 12, 2017

Tracking Trouble A close encounter with an asteroid October 11, 2017

Ceres Watery features on a giant asteroid May 2, 2017

Asteroid Belt A ring of debris around the Sun May 1, 2017

Looking Deep Looking into the hearts of planets March 21, 2017

Time Machine Traveling to the early solar system March 20, 2017

Centaurs Hybrid critters in the outer solar system February 15, 2017

Early Test Looking for asteroids in Earth’s orbit February 8, 2017

Scary Asteroids Cataloging scary space rocks January 15, 2017

Bright Invaders A bright cosmic invasion October 3, 2016

OSIRIS-Rex II Keeping an eye on a potential killer September 7, 2016

OSIRIS-Rex Digging into some leftovers September 6, 2016

Gaspra A breakup creates a big family July 30, 2016