20 December 2021
Last year, Japan’s Hayabusa 2 asteroid explorer returned samples from the asteroid Ryugu, and now the first analysis of the rock shows it has a primitive composition and a curiously dark colour
22 January 2020
When asteroid Armageddon is upon us, we can't just call Bruce Willis. Meet the people who really do watch the skies – and make detailed plans for our survival
22 January 2020
A massive asteroid that hit Earth 65 million years ago
31 October 2019
Most meteorites are bits of asteroid, which are themselves leftovers from the formation of the solar system.
6 October 2019
Astronomers are racing to learn about only the second interstellar object ever seen. We now know it contains cyanide gas – and we could send a probe to visit it
11 July 2019
Japan's spacecraft Hayabusa 2 has again successfully landed on a distant asteroid and completed its mission of collecting underground samples
18 June 2019
NASA has captured its closest and most detailed image yet of Bennu, a 78 billion-kilogram asteroid which approaches close to Earth every six years
3 October 2018
Japan has just dropped off its third lander on the surface of the asteroid Ryugu. It has less than a day to complete its mission before its batteries run out
27 September 2018
Japanese landers on the asteroid Ryugu have sent back more stunning images and video of the alien landscape
25 October 2017
Don’t feel so bad for losing your keys. Astronomers somehow lost a huge space rock first seen 22 years ago – and it’s far from the first cosmic object to go missing
