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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 outsized intrigue

Asteroids

Rocky leftovers from planet formation.

Comets

Cosmic snowballs of gas and dust.

Meteors

AKA "shooting stars," the spectacle of debris falling and burning 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 meteoroids are chunks of rock, ice, and metal left over from the formation of our solar system about 4.6 billion years ago.

Get the latest count of asteroids and comets

Asteroid News

More NASA News
Article
6 Min Read

NASA’s Moon Orbiter Spots New, ‘Once-in-Century’ Moon Crater

Blog
6 Min Read

NASA’s Psyche Mission Delivers Mars Flyby Data, Time-lapse Video 

5 Min Read

NASA Study Finds Near-Earth Asteroid Is Actually Comet

Article
6 Min Read

NASA Study of Pristine Meteorite Adds to Story of Ancient Asteroids

Article
5 Min Read

NASA’s Perseverance Rover Reads Record of Ancient Mars Impacts

Article

Eyes on Asteroids

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

Featured Asteroid Missions

Illustration of a spacecraft at an asteroid.

Lucy

Lucy launched Oct. 16, 2021, on a mission to explore a record-breaking number of asteroids, including Trojan asteroids.

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This artist's-concept illustration depicts the spacecraft of NASA's Psyche mission near the mission's target, the metal asteroid Psyche.

Psyche

In August 2029, Psyche will arrive at a metal-rich asteroid with the same name.

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Illustration of spacecraft with Earth in background.

OSIRIS-APEX

OSIRIS-APEX will study changes to asteroid Apophis after the asteroid’s rare close encounter with Earth in 2029.

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A silver, wedge-shaped spacecraft with a black telescope on the front, hovers against the darkness of space.

NEO Surveyor

NEO Surveyor will hunt asteroids and comets that are potential hazards to Earth. Launch is no earlier than 2027.

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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!

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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

Catalog of images, videos, and animations of asteroids and comets.

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