Asteroid - Wikipedia
An asteroid is a minor planet —an object that is neither a true planet nor an identified comet — that orbits within the inner Solar System. They are rocky, metallic, or icy bodies with no atmosphere, classified as C-type (carbonaceous), M-type (metallic), or S-type (silicaceous).
Asteroid | Definition, Size, & Facts | Britannica
5 days ago · Asteroid, any of a host of small bodies, about 1,000 km (600 miles) or less in diameter, that orbit the Sun primarily between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter in a nearly flat ring called the asteroid belt. Hundreds of thousands of asteroids are known.
Asteroid Facts - Science@NASA
Nov 3, 2024 · Introduction. Most asteroids can be found orbiting our Sun between Mars and Jupiter within the main asteroid belt. Asteroids range in size from Vesta – the largest asteroid at about 329 miles (530 kilometers) in diameter – to bodies that are less than 33 feet (10 meters) across. The total mass of all the asteroids combined is less than that of Earth’s Moon.
Eyes on Asteroids - NASA/JPL
Explore the 3D world of Asteroids, Comets and NEOs. Learn about past and future missions, tracking and predicting orbits, and close approaches to Earth.
Study Finds Earth’s Small Asteroid Visitor Likely Chunk of Moon …
3 days ago · Asteroid Lunar Studies. The discovery of 2024 PT5 doubles the number of known asteroids thought to originate from the Moon. Asteroid 469219 Kamo’oalewa was found in 2016 with an Earth-like orbit around the Sun, indicating that it may also have been ejected from the lunar surface after a large impact. As telescopes become more sensitive to ...
Asteroid Fast Facts - NASA
Mar 31, 2014 · About once a year, an automobile-sized asteroid hits Earth’s atmosphere, creates an impressive fireball, and burns up before reaching the surface. Every 2,000 years or so, a meteoroid the size of a football field hits Earth and causes significant damage to the area.
What Is an Asteroid? | NASA Space Place – NASA Science for Kids
Jan 14, 2025 · Asteroids are small, rocky objects that orbit the sun. Although asteroids orbit the sun like planets, they are much smaller than planets. A close-up image of the asteroid Ida taken by NASA's Galileo spacecraft. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA. There are lots of asteroids in our solar system.
In Depth | Asteroids - NASA Solar System Exploration
Asteroids, sometimes called minor planets, are rocky remnants left over from the early formation of our solar system about 4.6 billion years ago. The current known asteroid count is: . Most of this ancient space rubble can be found orbiting our Sun between Mars and …
What are asteroids? | Space
Jul 28, 2023 · Asteroids are the rocky remnants of material leftover from the formation of the solar system and its planets approximately 4.6 billion years ago. The majority of asteroids originate from the...
Physical characteristics and composition of asteroids | Britannica
asteroid, Any of the many rocky small bodies that orbit the Sun mainly in a flat ring, the asteroid belt, between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.