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Size Distribution for Unknown Asteroids in Hubble Asteroid Hunter Survey

This graph plots the size of asteroids versus their abundance, based on a Hubble Space Telescope archival survey that found 1,701 mostly previously undetected asteroids lying between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. The vertical axis lists number of objects from zero to 70. The horizontal axis lists size, from zero kilometers on the left, to 2 kilometers on the right. The graph slopes up such that the most abundant asteroids detected by Hubble in the survey are 0.5 kilometers across in size.

This graph is based on Hubble Space Telescope archival data that was used to identify a largely unseen population of very small asteroids in their tracks. The asteroids were not the intended targets, but instead photobombed background stars and galaxies in Hubble images. The comprehensive treasure hunt required perusing 37,000 Hubble images spanning 19 years. This was accomplished by using "citizen science" volunteers and artificial intelligence algorithms. The payoff was finding 1,701 asteroid trails of previously undetected asteroids.

 

  • Release Date
    April 18, 2024
  • Science Release
    Hubble Goes Hunting for Small Main Belt Asteroids
    Read the release
  • Credits
    Pablo García Martín (UAM), Elizabeth Wheatley (STScI)

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Related Images & Videos

This is a Hubble Space Telescope image of the barred spiral galaxy UGC 12158. The majestic galaxy has a pinwheel shape made up of bright blue stars wound around a yellow-white hub of central stars. The hub has a slash of stars across it, called a bar. The galaxy is tilted face-on to our view from Earth. A slightly s-shaped white line across the top is a Hubble image is of an asteroid streaking across Hubble's view. It looks dashed because the image is a combination of several exposures of the asteroid flying by like a race car.

Wayward Asteroid Photobombs Hubble Snapshot of Galaxy UGC 12158

This Hubble Space Telescope image of the barred spiral galaxy UGC 12158 looks like someone took a white marking pen to it. In reality it is a combination of time exposures of a foreground asteroid moving through Hubble's field-of-view, photobombing the observation of the galaxy....

Annotated image of barred spiral galaxy UGC 12158 against the black background of space, with compass arrows, a scale bar, and color key for reference. The galaxy has a pinwheel shape made up of bright blue stars wound around a yellow-white hub of central stars. The hub has a slash of stars across it, called a bar. The galaxy is tilted face-on to our view from Earth. A slightly s-shaped white line across the top is a Hubble image is of an asteroid streaking across Hubble's view. It looks dashed because the image is a combination of several exposures of the asteroid flying by like a race car. White text at top left reads "UGC 12158." White text below reads "HST ACS/WFC." Near top left, color key consisting of three lines reads: "F475" in blue, "F606" in green, and "F814W" in red. At bottom left corner is a scale bar labeled "60,000 light-years" over "30 arcseconds." At bottom right corner, the "E" compass arrow points towards the 2 o'clock position. The "N" compass arrow points towards the 5 o'clock position.

Asteroid Passes in Front of UGC 12158 (Compass Image)

This Hubble Space Telescope image of the barred spiral galaxy UGC 12158 looks like someone took a white marking pen to it. In reality it is a combination of time exposures of a foreground asteroid moving through Hubble's field-of-view, photobombing the observation of the galaxy....

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Last Updated
Mar 10, 2025
Contact
Media

Claire Andreoli
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, Maryland
claire.andreoli@nasa.gov

Illustration Credit

Pablo García Martín (UAM), Elizabeth Wheatley (STScI)

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