Asteroids
Latest about Asteroids
'Spectacular' asteroid blazes over Siberia just hours after it was detected
By Pandora Dewan published
Asteroid C0WEPC5 entered Earth's atmosphere at 1:15 a.m. local time on Dec. 4 over northeastern Siberia.
Massive, 'potentially hazardous' asteroid due to make closest-ever approach to Earth tonight — and you can watch it live
By Pandora Dewan published
The stadium-sized asteroid 2020 XR is due to make its closest approach to Earth on record early on Dec. 4, and the encounter will be livestreamed for everyone to see.
'Fireball' meteor discovered hours before exploding above Niagara Falls was the smallest asteroid ever seen
By Harry Baker published
An asteroid that fell to Earth and exploded above Canada in 2022 was only around 20 inches wide — the smallest space rock ever properly measured, researchers say.
Samples of 'alien' asteroid Ryugu are crawling with life — from Earth
By Ben Turner published
Scientists have found microorganisms crawling over a sample retrieved from the 200 million-mile-distant asteroid Ryugu. But they almost certainly came from Earth.
Scientists trace origin of Earth's mysterious 'minimoon' days before it escapes into space for 30 years
By Harry Baker published
A new study reveals that the asteroid 2024 PT5, which has been orbiting Earth for 2 months, may have a "lunar origin." However, it is about to break free from our planet, making it tricky to tell for sure.
An asteroid hit Earth just hours after being detected. It was the 3rd 'imminent impactor' of 2024
By Brett Tingley published
A small asteroid burned up in Earth's atmosphere off the coast of California just hours after being discovered and before impact monitoring systems had registered its trajectory.
'God of chaos' asteroid may be transformed by tremors and landslides during 2029 flyby of Earth, study finds
By Deepa Jain published
When the 'God of chaos' asteroid Apophis makes an ultraclose flyby of Earth in 2029, our planet's gravity may trigger tremors and landslides that totally change the asteroid's surface.
4 large asteroids, including a skyscraper-size 'city killer,' will zoom past Earth in a 12-hour span tomorrow (Oct. 24)
By Harry Baker published
Four "potentially hazardous" space rocks, which are between 100 and 580 feet across, will all make their closest approaches to Earth within less than 12 hours of one another on Thursday (Oct. 24). Two of them were only discovered earlier this month.
Sign up for the Live Science daily newsletter now
Get the world’s most fascinating discoveries delivered straight to your inbox.