Meteors & Meteorites

NASA Mars lander felt the ground shake during the impact while cameras aboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spotted the yawning new crater from space.

The path through the solar system is a rocky road. Asteroids, comets, Kuiper Belt Objects—all kinds of small bodies of rock, metal and ice are in constant motion as they orbit the Sun. But what’s the difference between them? Why do these miniature worlds fascinate space explorers so much?

About 55 miles above Earth, minuscule fireballs leave a puff of tiny particles called meteoric smoke.

The new system improves NASA's capabilities to assess the impact risk of asteroids that can come close to our planet.

Models and lab tests suggest the asteroid could be venting sodium vapor as it orbits close to the Sun, explaining its increase in brightness.

The Perseids are already showing up in our night skies, and they peak in mid-August.

The next full Moon will be on Thursday afternoon, Oct. 1, 2020. The Moon will appear full from Wednesday morning through Saturday morning.

Despite its small size, this space rock is a colossal find. It's one of the best-preserved meteorites of its kind ever found.

Ice-blue clouds are drifting over the Arctic and that means noctilucent cloud season is here.

Recently, A NASA scientist analyzed the age of the Yarrabubba meteor crater in Australia and found it to be 2.229 billion years old, making it now the oldest crater currently known.

This year, the peak is during the overnight hours of December 13 and into the morning of December 14.

An international team has found sugars essential to life in meteorites. The new discovery adds to the growing list of biologically important compounds found in meteorites.

New research shows streams of meteoroids striking the Moon infuse the thin lunar atmosphere with a short-lived water vapor.

​On Dec. 18, 2018, a large "fireball" — the term used for exceptionally bright meteors that are visible over a wide area — exploded about 16 miles (26 kilometers) above the Bering Sea.

Here’s a lineup of the various kinds of small bodies that orbit the Sun and sometimes impact planets and each other.

Photographing a meteor shower can be an exercise in patience, but with these tips – and some good fortune – you might be rewarded with a great photo.

November brings planets, an asteroid, a comet and the Leonids meteor shower.

This summer offers plenty of opportunities for skywatchers looking to observe Mars, Saturn, Jupiter and meteors--with or without a telescope.

'Oumuamua, the first known interstellar object to travel through our solar system, got an unexpected boost in speed and shift in trajectory last year, a new study shows.

Asteroid 2018 LA entered Earth’s atmosphere at about 9:44 a.m. PDT (12:44 p.m. EDT, 16:44 UTC), and later disintegrated in the upper atmosphere near Botswana, Africa.

A blinding flash, a loud sonic boom, and shattered glass everywhere—this is what the people of Chelyabinsk, Russia, experienced five years ago when an asteroid exploded over their city the morning of Feb. 15, 2013.

A piece of a meteorite will be carried on board NASA's Mars 2020 rover mission, serving as target practice for a high-precision laser on the rover's arm.

Quadrantid meteors January 3-4, a West Coast-favoring total lunar eclipse, and time to start watching Mars!

A small meteorite may be the first discovered from the Martian surface or crust. It contains 10 times more water than other Martian meteorites from unknown origins.

For the first time, scientists recovered celestial meteorites that have a definitive link with an asteroid from space.