Jay TateNo one saw the Chelyabinsk meteor of 15 February 2013 coming. Just after sunrise on a calm and sunny winter’s day, a 20-metre asteroid struck the atmosphere over the Ural Mountains in Russia, at a speed of more than 18 km/s.
The relatively small rock approached Earth from very near the direction of the Sun,
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Jay TateComet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) today makes its closest approach to Earth before likely leaving our Solar System forever. At billions of years old and not seen since Neanderthals roamed, the green comet continues to intrigue as it grows an apparent third tail and unexpectedly – but intriguingly – failed to wow scientists when observed in x-ray light.
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Jay TateA vast amount of rocks and other material are hurtling around our Solar System as asteroids and comets. If one of these came towards us, could we successfully prevent the collision between an asteroid and Earth?
Well, maybe. But there appears to be one type of asteroid that might be particularly hard to destroy.
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Jay Tate Jay TateA space telescope designed to search for the hardest-to-find asteroids and comets that stray into Earth’s orbital neighborhood, NASA’s Near-Earth Object Surveyor (NEO Surveyor) recently passed a rigorous technical and programmatic review. Now the mission is transitioning into the final design-and-fabrication phase and establishing its technical, cost, and schedule baseline.
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Jay TateA team of researchers has discovered at least two new minerals that have never before been seen on Earth in a 15 tonne meteorite found in Somalia – the ninth largest meteorite ever found.
“Whenever you find a new mineral, it means that the actual geological conditions, the chemistry of the rock,
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Jay TateAstronomers have discovered a giant asteroid hiding in the glare of the Sun that might one day cross paths with Earth
The 0.9-mile-wide (1.5 kilometers) asteroid is the largest potentially hazardous asteroid spotted in the past eight years and astronomers have dubbed it a “planet killer”
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Jay TateBBC Science Correspondent
Space probes have witnessed a big impact crater being formed on Mars – the largest in the Solar System ever caught in the act of excavation.
A van-sized object dug out a 150m-wide bowl on the Red Planet,
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Jay TateThe American space agency says its recent attempt to deflect the path of an asteroid was successful.
Scientists have now confirmed the orbit of a 160m-wide (520ft) space rock known as Dimorphos was altered when the Dart probe struck it head on last month.
Researchers came to the conclusion after making measurements using a range of space and Earth-based telescopes.
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Jay TateThe James Webb and Hubble telescopes on Thursday revealed their first images of a spacecraft deliberately smashing into an asteroid, as astronomers indicated that the impact looks to have been much greater than expected.
The world’s telescopes turned their gaze towards the space rock Dimorphos earlier this week for a historic test of Earth’s ability to defend itself against a potential life-threatening asteroid in the future.
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