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.

Exploring asteroids

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Active Missions

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Mission On Deck

At the Station

Asteroids

Rocky leftovers from planet formation.

Comets

Cosmic snowballs of gas and dust.

Meteors

Bits of debris that fall through the atmosphere.

Three blue-hued, views from Hubble showing Didymos-Dimorphos asteroid system after DART impact. A bright, white-blue center and streaks of darker blue emanating outward, with the streaks growing in length across the three images.

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 4.6 billion years ago. They are a lot like a fossil record of our early solar system.

There are currently about 1.3 million known asteroids, and more than 3,800 known comets.

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

Asteroids, Comets and Meteors Stories

Explore All Asteroid, Comets and Meteors Stories

NASA’s Lucy Surprises Again, Observes 1st-ever Contact Binary Orbiting Asteroid

DART Team Earns Smithsonian Michael Collins Trophy for Successful Planetary Defense Test Mission

NASA’s Lucy Spacecraft Discovers 2nd Asteroid During Dinkinesh Flyby

Data From NASA’s WISE Used to Preview Lucy Mission’s Asteroid Dinkinesh

NASA’s Lucy Spacecraft Preparing for its First Asteroid Flyby

Asteroid, Comets and Meteors

14 Images

To date, NASA-sponsored surveys have provided over 95% of all Near-Earth Object discoveries.

NASA

NASA

Planetary Defense Coordination Office (PDCO)

Resources

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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.

Keep Exploring

Discover More Topics From NASA

Pluto

Kuiper Belt

Oort Cloud

Skywatching