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!
Discover Asteroids and Comets
In addition to the resources on this page, follow along with updates on asteroids and comets and current missions through @NASASolarSystem on your preferred social media platform.
Asteroids
Learn more about asteroids which are rocky, airless remnants left over from the early formation of our solar system about 4.6 billion years ago.
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Asteroid Animations and Videos
What You Need To Know About Asteroids and Other Near-Earth Objects
Learn how we find, track, and monitor near-Earth objects.
To an Asteroid and Back
Follow along with NASA's OSIRIS-REx team as they launch a spacecraft to an asteroid, collect a sample of asteroid Bennu, and bring it home to Earth.
Why Did NASA Choose Asteroid Bennu?
Learn about NASA's selection process for choosing the near-Earth asteroid Bennu as the target for the agency's OSIRIS-REx mission.
Tour of Asteroid Bennu
This 3D tour of Bennu was created using data and images from the OSIRIS-REx mission.
NASA's Psyche Mission to an Asteroid: Official NASA Trailer
Journey along with NASA's Psyche mission to explore a unique metallic asteroid orbiting the Sun between Mars and Jupiter.
Meet NASA's Psyche Team Who Will Measure the Asteroid's Magnetic Field
Discover how NASA's Psyche team will measure asteroid 16 Psyche's magnetic field using a magnetometer.
Lucy Sees Asteroid Dinkinesh in Detail
Explore the main-belt asteroid Dinkinesh through the eyes of the Lucy spacecraft.
NASA's DART Mission
Since NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) successfully impacted its target on Sept. 26, 2022 – altering the orbit of the asteroid moonlet Dimorphos – the DART team has determined that the mission's kinetic impactor technique can be an effective way to change the trajectory of an asteroid.
NEOWISE: Legacy of NASA's Asteroid-Hunting Telescope
Learn about the NEOWISE mission, NASA's asteroid-hunting space telescope, which retired in summer 2024 after over a decade of discovering, tracking, and characterizing near-Earth objects (NEOs) — asteroids and comets that come close to Earth's orbit.
Analyzing Samples of an Asteroid
Zooming in on Bennu samples
A top-down view of one of the containers holding rocks and dust from asteroid Bennu, with hardware scale marked in centimeters. This image was captured using manual high-resolution precision photography and a semi-automated focus stacking procedure. The result is a sample image that can be zoomed in on to show extreme detail.
Image credit: NASA/Erika Blumenfeld and Joseph Aebersold
Comets
Learn more about comets, frozen leftovers from the formation of the solar system, which are composed of dust, rock, and ices.
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Comet Animations and Videos
Volunteers Help Discover 5,000 Comets
The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO), a joint mission of ESA (European Space Agency) and NASA, discovered its 5,000th comet in March 2024, thanks to the help of volunteer comet hunters participating in the NASA-funded Sungrazer Project.
Observing Comet Siding Spring at Mars
Learn more about Comet Siding Spring's close encounter with Mars in October 2014.
The Lasting Impacts of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9
Explore Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9's encounter with Jupiter.
Deep Impact: Approach and Impact
On July 4, 2005, a probe was released from NASA's Deep Impact spacecraft, which captured images of Comet Tempel 1 before, during and after its collision with the probe.
Stardust Swoops by Tempel 1
Discover what it was like for NASA's Stardust spacecraft to fly by Comet Tempel 1.
Stardust: Why Bring a Comet Home?
Learn about NASA's Stardust mission which captured and delivered samples of a comet to Earth in 2006.
Comet ISON
A unique Hubble view of Comet ISON
In this Hubble Space Telescope composite image taken in April 2013, the Sun-approaching Comet ISON floats against a seemingly infinite backdrop of numerous galaxies and a handful of foreground stars. The icy visitor, with its long gossamer tail, appears to be swimming like a tadpole through a deep pond of celestial wonders.
Image credit: NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)
Activities
The Daily Minor Planet
Using data from the Catalina Sky Survey, look for asteroids and help spot potential Earth impactors.
Make Your Own Asteroid
Make your own model asteroid at home using a variety of materials.
OSIRIS-REx Coloring Pages
Color illustrations of the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft exploring asteroid Bennu and returning to Earth with a precious asteroid sample.
Make a Comet on a Stick!
A comet is a chunk of ice, rock, and gas flying through space. When they get close to the Sun, they heat up. We can then see their long tails glow. In this activity, you'll make your own comet that can fly around the room!
Create a Comet with Dry Ice
Learn how to build an icy model of a comet, complete with shooting jets. This activity provides an opportunity for students to make observations, discuss changing states of matter and demonstrate measuring skills.
Handouts
Asteroids Poster – Version A
This view of the asteroid 243 Ida was acquired by NASA's Galileo spacecraft on Aug. 28, 1993, about 3-1/2 minutes before the spacecraft made its closest approach to Ida.
Asteroids Poster – Version B
NASA's Dawn spacecraft obtained this image of the large asteroid Vesta in 2012, looking down at Vesta's north pole as the spacecraft was departing.
Comets Poster – Version A
A mosaic comprising four individual images of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko from the European Space Agency's Rosetta mission in November 2014.
Comets Poster – Version B
A view of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko based on two images acquired by the European Space Agency's Rosetta mission.
Comets Poster – Version C
A section of the smaller of Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko’s two lobes as seen by the European Space Agency's Rosetta mission in October 2014.
OSIRIS-REx Mission Posters
Download OSIRIS-REx posters and collectibles from the University of Arizona.
Lucy Mission Posters
Download Lucy posters and collectibles from the Southwest Research Institute.
Online Interactives
Live From the Clean Room - Building NEO Surveyor
Watch as NASA's next planetary defense mission comes together at the agency's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Southern California.
NASA's Eyes on Asteroids
Fully interactive, NASA's Eyes on Asteroids uses data to visualize asteroid and comet orbits around the Sun.
NASA Solar System Treks: Bennu
Check out these online portals and explore the surfaces of other worlds using real data returned from spacecraft. Visit Bennu now!
NASA Solar System Treks: Vesta
Check out these online portals and explore the surfaces of other worlds using real data returned from spacecraft. Visit Vesta now!
NASA Solar System Treks: Ryugu
Check out these online portals and explore the surfaces of other worlds using real data returned from spacecraft. Visit Ryugu now!
Asteroid Watch Dashboard
Track the next five asteroids making the closest passes by Earth.
