Asteroids, Comets and Meteors News

April 18, 2025

Top Headlines

Curiosity Rover Finds Large Carbon Deposits on Mars

Apr. 17, 2025 — Research from NASA's Curiosity rover has found evidence of a carbon cycle on ancient ...

Ever Wonder Why Some Meteor Showers Are So Unpredictable?

Apr. 16, 2025 — Why do comets and their meteoroid streams weave in and out of Earth's orbit and their orbits disperse over time? Researchers show that this is not due to the random pull of the planets, but rather the kick they receive from a moving ...

Crystal Clues on Mars Point to Watery and Possibly Life-Supporting Past

Apr. 16, 2025 — A new study analyzing data from NASA's Perseverance rover has uncovered compelling evidence of multiple mineral-forming events just beneath the Martian surface -- findings that bring scientists one step closer to answering the profound question: Did ...

Scientists Find Evidence That Overturns Theories of the Origin of Water on Earth

Apr. 16, 2025 — Researchers have helped overturn the popular theory that water on Earth originated from asteroids bombarding its surface; Scientists have analyzed a meteorite analogous to the early Earth to ...

Latest Headlines

updated 5:32pm EDT

Molten Martian Core Could Explain Red Planet's Magnetic Quirks

Apr. 15, 2025 — First ever supercomputer simulations of Mars with a fully molten core could explain the Red Planet's unusual magnetic field. Billions of years ago, Mars had an active magnetic field. Mysteriously, ...

Mysterious Atmosphere of 'Rosetta Stone' Exoplanet

Apr. 15, 2025 — A new study modeled the chemistry of TOI-270 d, an exoplanet between Earth and Neptune in size, finding evidence that it could be a giant rocky planet shrouded in a thick, hot atmosphere. TOI-270 d ...

Scientists May Have Solved a Puzzling Space Rock Mystery

Apr. 14, 2025 — Researchers may have answered one of space science's long-running questions -- and it could change our understanding of how life began. Carbon-rich asteroids are abundant in space yet make up less ...

Saturn's Moon Titan Could Harbor Life, but Only a Tiny Amount, Study Finds

Apr. 7, 2025 — Despite its uniquely rich inventory of organic molecules, Saturn's largest moon, Titan, may be able to support only a minuscule amount of biomass, if life exists on the moon, according to a study ...

Existing International Law Can Help Secure Peace and Security in Outer Space

Apr. 2, 2025 — World leaders should look to existing international law on the use of force to address the threat of space becoming ever more militarized, a new ...

Solar Cells Made of Moon Dust Could Power Future Space Exploration

Apr. 3, 2025 — The same dirt that clings to astronauts' boots may one day keep their lights on. Researchers created solar cells made out of simulated Moon dust. The cells convert sunlight into energy efficiently, ...

Miso Made in Space Tastes Nuttier

Apr. 2, 2025 — Miso is a traditional Japanese condiment made by fermenting cooked soybeans and salt. Researchers successfully made miso on the International Space Station (ISS). They found that the miso smelled and ...

Asteroid Impact Threat Estimates Improved for the Earth and the Moon

Apr. 2, 2025 — An international team is currently closely tracking the near-Earth asteroid 2024 YR4. The impact probability estimates for the year 2032 has been reduced from a peak of 3 percent to below 0.001 ...

Organic Molecules of Unprecedented Size Discovered on Mars

Mar. 24, 2025 — The longest organic molecules identified to date on Mars have recently been detected. These long carbon chains, containing up to 12 consecutive carbon atoms, could exhibit features similar to the ...

Violent Supernovae 'Triggered at Least Two Earth Extinctions'

Mar. 13, 2025 — At least two mass extinction events in Earth's history were likely caused by the 'devastating' effects of nearby supernova explosions, a new study suggests. Researchers say these super-powerful ...

Meteorites: A Geologic Map of the Asteroid Belt

Mar. 18, 2025 — Where do meteorites of different type come from? In a review paper, astronomers trace the impact orbit of observed meteorite falls to several previously unidentified source regions in the asteroid ...

Age of Upcoming Asteroid Flyby Target

Mar. 17, 2025 — New modeling indicates the main belt asteroid (52246) Donaldjohanson may have formed about 150 million years ago when a larger parent asteroid broke apart; its orbit and spin properties have ...

TOI-1453: Sub-Neptune in System of Two Exoplanets

Mar. 14, 2025 — Astronomers have discovered two exoplanets around TOI-1453, a star about 250 light years away. These two exoplanets, a super-Earth and a sub-Neptune, are common in the galaxy, yet are absent from our ...

Signs of Alien Life May Be Hiding in These Gases

Mar. 12, 2025 — Scientists identify a new way to detect life in outer space with currently existing telescopes. The method hinges on worlds that look nothing like Earth, and gases rarely considered in the search for ...

Super-Earths and Mini-Neptunes: More Earth-Like Planets May Exist

Mar. 11, 2025 — A new study presents a compelling new model for the formation of super-Earths and mini-Neptunes -- planets that are 1 to 4 times the size of Earth and among the most common in our galaxy. Using ...

How's the Weather on Mars?

Mar. 6, 2025 — A new study revealed that atmospheric gravity waves play a crucial role in driving latitudinal air currents on Mars, particularly at high altitudes. The findings, based on long-term atmospheric data, ...

The Chances of Anything Coming from Mars

Mar. 5, 2025 — Within the next decade, space agencies plan to bring samples of rock from Mars to Earth for study. Of concern is the possibility these samples contain life, which could have unforeseen consequences. ...

Small and Large Planets Have Significantly Different Upbringings

Mar. 5, 2025 — Studying the orbits of thousands of exoplanets shows that large planets tend to have elliptical orbits, while smaller planets tend to have more circular orbits. This split coincides with several ...

Astronomer Finds Gas Giant Exoplanets Formed Earlier Than Previously Thought

Mar. 5, 2025 — A fresh look at past data reveals that exoplanets with masses similar to Jupiter formed much sooner than previously thought, according to new ...

NASA's Hubble Finds Kuiper Belt Duo May Be Trio

Mar. 4, 2025 — The puzzle of predicting how three gravitationally bound bodies move in space has challenged mathematicians for centuries, and has most recently been popularized in the novel and television show ...

Designing a Satellite to Hunt Small Space Debris

Feb. 27, 2025 — Scientists are designing a satellite and instruments capable of detecting space debris as small as 1 centimeter, less than one-half inch. Debris that small, which cannot currently be detected from ...

The International Space Station Is Overly Sterile; Making It 'Dirtier' Could Improve Astronaut Health

Feb. 27, 2025 — Astronauts often experience immune dysfunction, skin rashes, and other inflammatory conditions while traveling in space. A new study suggests that these issues could be due to the excessively sterile ...

ESO Observations Help Almost Fully Rule out 2024 YR4 Asteroid Impact

Feb. 25, 2025 — New observations of 2024 YR4 conducted with the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope (ESO's VLT) and facilities around the world have all but ruled out an impact of the ...

The Galactic Journey of Our Solar System

Feb. 25, 2025 — Astronomers have discovered that the Solar System traversed the Orion star-forming complex, a component of the Radcliffe Wave galactic structure, approximately 14 million years ago. This journey ...

Gulf of Mars: Rover Finds Evidence of 'Vacation-Style' Beaches on Mars

Feb. 24, 2025 — Mars may have once been home to sun-soaked, sandy beaches with gentle, lapping waves according to a new ...

Does Planetary Evolution Favor Human-Like Life? Study Ups Odds We're Not Alone

Feb. 14, 2025 — Humanity may not be extraordinary but rather the natural evolutionary outcome for our planet and likely others, according to a new model for how intelligent life developed on ...

Deposits Found on a Nearby Asteroid Point to Salty Water in the Outer Solar System

Feb. 14, 2025 — Asteroids that orbit close to the Earth inevitably cause us some anxiety due to the even remote possibility of a collision. But their proximity also offers ample opportunities to learn more about the ...

New Research Sheds Light on Using Multiple CubeSats for in-Space Servicing and Repair Missions

Feb. 14, 2025 — As more satellites, telescopes, and other spacecraft are built to be repairable, it will take reliable trajectories for service spacecraft to reach them safely. Researchers are developing a ...

Euclid Discovers a Stunning Einstein Ring

Feb. 10, 2025 — Euclid, the European Space Agency's dark Universe detective, has made an astonishing discovery -- right in our cosmic ...

Multinational Research Project Shows How Life on Earth Can Be Measured from Space

Feb. 6, 2025 — Measurements and data collected from space can be used to better understand life on Earth. An ambitious, multinational research project has demonstrated that Earth's biodiversity can be ...