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.
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.
COMET 3i/atlas
Interstellar Comet, Passing Through the Solar System
Only the third known object to venture into our solar system from interstellar space, Comet 3I/ATLAS poses no threat to Earth, but is taking a tour past our celestial neighbors. NASA has been studying the icy visitor with space telescopes including Hubble, Webb, and SPHEREx. The comet passed Mars on Oct. 3, continued its trajectory to pass behind the Sun in late October, and will venture past Jupiter in March 2026, on its way out of our solar system.
Learn More About Comet 3I/ATLAS
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
Asteroid News
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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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.
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