In Nov. 2010, the Catalina Sky Survey in Arizona discovered a near-Earth asteroid as wide as a football field. Before astronomers could fully trace its orbit, however, the receding space rock faded away. It has been lost ever since–that is, until last week when it reappeared, approaching Earth. The name of the asteroid is 2010 WC9. Marian Urbanik of Čadca, Slovakia, photographed
By Jake Parks | Published: Thursday, March 22, 2018 The first known cosmic tourist was likely ejected from a system with two parent stars. Last October, astronomers spotted the first known visitor from another star system as it zoomed through the inner solar system at breakneck speeds. The interstellar interloper, since named ‘Oumuamua (Hawaiian for “scout”), is a cigar-shaped asteroid roughly 1,300 feet (400
HAMMER time. DAVID NIELD 17 MAR 2018 By our best estimates, the huge Bennu asteroid has around a 1-in-2,700 chance of slamming into Earth sometime in the 22nd century. Slim as those odds may be, plans are already underway to try and put the rock off course, should it get too close. What scientists are proposing is a rocket called HAMMER, or
