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A full disc view of Bennu, whoing its surface littered with giant boulders.

Asteroids, Comets & Meteors

Our solar system's small bodies pack big surprises.

Asteroids

Rocky leftovers from planet formation.

Comets

Cosmic snowballs of gas and dust.

Meteors

Bits of debris that fall through the atmosphere.

Seal shows a guard in a castle turret using a telescope to watch out for asteroids and comets in the sky.

Planetary Defense

Protect Earth from impacts.

Overview

Asteroids, comets, and meteors are chunks of rock, ice, and metal left over from the formation of our solar system about 4.6 billion years ago.

Asteroids and Comets

Latest Count

For an up to date count of asteroids, and comets in our solar system, visit NASA/JPL’s Solar System Dynamics website.

Featured Story

Study Finds Earth’s Small Asteroid Visitor Likely Chunk of Moon Rock

Lee esta historia en español aquí. The near-Earth object was likely ejected into space after an impact thousands of years ago.…

Read the Story
Explore the 3D world of asteroids, comets, and NEOs. Learn about past and future missions, tracking and predicting orbits, and close approaches to Earth.
NASA/JPL-Caltech

Latest News

News Release
6 Min Read

NASA’s Asteroid Bennu Sample Reveals Mix of Life’s Ingredients

23 Min Read

How NASA Found the Ingredients for Life on an Asteroid

2 Min Read

NASA to Brief Media on Asteroid Sample Mission Findings

News Release
5 Min Read

Study Finds Earth’s Small Asteroid Visitor Likely Chunk of Moon Rock

Article
3 Min Read

NASA’s Planetary Defenders Head to the Sundance Film Festival

News Release

Asteroid and Comet Resources

Explore this page for a curated collection of resources, including activities that can be done at home, as well as videos and animations, images, handouts, and online interactives. This resource package is suitable for educators, students, and anyone interested in learning more about asteroids and comets!

Learn More
Two images of two gray colored asteroids. One of the space rocks is much larger.
A pair of stereoscopic images of the asteroid Dinkinesh and its satellite, Selam, created using data collected by the L’LORRI camera on NASA’s Lucy spacecraft in the minutes around closest approach on Nov. 1, 2023.
NASA/Goddard/SwRI/Johns Hopkins APL/NOIRLab for the original images/Brian May/Claudia Manzoni for stereo processing of the images.


More Resources

Lucy_Eyes-640x480

Lucy Mission Resource Package

Activities that can be done at home as well as videos, animations, stories, and articles.

Whimsical cartoon of girl and her dog watching a meteor shower.

For Kids: Asteroids, Comets & Meteors

Facts and activities for K-4 explorers.

two rocky asteroids in black space

NASA Photojournal: Small Bodies

Shooting stars are actually bits of debris that fall through our atmosphere.

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