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 Jupiter within the main asteroid belt
Asteroids, Comets Meteors - NASA Solar System Exploration Our solar system’s small bodies – asteroids, comets, and meteors – pack big surprises These chunks of rock, ice, and metal are leftovers from the formation of our solar system 4 6 billion years ago
In Depth | Perseids – NASA Solar System Exploration Meteors come from leftover comet particles and bits from broken asteroids When comets come around the Sun, they leave a dusty trail behind them Every year Earth passes through these debris trails, which allows the bits to collide with our atmosphere and disintegrate to create fiery and colorful streaks in the sky
Planet Compare - NASA Solar System Exploration NASA’s real-time science encyclopedia of deep space exploration Our scientists and far-ranging robots explore the wild frontiers of our solar system
In Depth | Our Solar System - NASA Solar System Exploration Our solar system consists of our star, the Sun, and everything bound to it by gravity – the planets Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune; dwarf planets such as Pluto; dozens of moons; and millions of asteroids, comets, and meteoroids
In Depth | Oumuamua – NASA Solar System Exploration The first known interstellar object to visit our solar system, 1I 2017 U1 ‘Oumuamua, was discovered Oct 19, 2017 by the University of Hawaii’s Pan-STARRS1 telescope, funded by NASA’s Near-Earth Object Observations (NEOO) Program, which finds and tracks asteroids and comets in Earth’s neighborhood While originally classified as a comet
Make Your Own Awesome Asteroid - NASA Solar System Exploration Asteroids are leftover rocky parts of the solar system Some have not changed very much in 4 5 billion years and some have partly melted Others have completely melted and formed iron-nickel core with rocky material on top All asteroids exhibit craters that record collisions between asteroids – big and small They tell
Solar System Exploration Stories - NASA Science NASA is launching rockets from a remote Pacific island to study mysterious, high-altitude cloud-like structures that can disrupt critical communication systems
RPS 3D Viewer - NASA Solar System Exploration NASA’s real-time science encyclopedia of deep space exploration Our scientists and far-ranging robots explore the wild frontiers of our solar system
In Depth | 1P Halley – NASA Solar System Exploration Asteroids, Comets Meteors 1P Halley In 1986, the European spacecraft Giotto became one of the first spacecraft ever to encounter and photograph the nucleus of a comet, passing and imaging Halley's nucleus as it receded from the Sun Credit: Halley Multicolor Camera Team, Giotto Project, ESA | More about this image