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Astronomers have captured what appears to be a snapshot of a massive collision of giant asteroids in Beta Pictoris, a neighboring star system known for its early age and tumultuous planet-forming activity.

The observations spotlight the volatile processes that shape star systems like our own, offering a unique glimpse into the primordial stages of planetary formation.

“Beta Pictoris is at an age when planet formation in the terrestrial planet zone is still ongoing through giant asteroid collisions, so what we could be seeing here is basically how rocky planets and other bodies are forming in real time,” said Christine Chen, a Johns Hopkins University astronomer who led the research.

Two asteroids, including the newly detected 2024 MK, will pass Earth safely this week, coinciding with Asteroid Day. The event highlights efforts such as ESA’s asteroid deflection mission and their new Flyeye telescope system aimed at improving our detection and response to these celestial threats.

Two large asteroids will safely pass Earth this week, a rare occurrence perfectly timed to commemorate this year’s Asteroid Day. Neither poses any risk to our planet, but one of them was only discovered a week ago, highlighting the need to continue improving our ability to detect potentially hazardous objects in our cosmic neighborhood.

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The event is so rare because of its large size – 375 meters (1230 feet) average diameter – as well as its proximity to the Earth.

“The 2029 flyby is an incredibly rare event,” ESA explained in an X post. “By comparing impact craters across the Solar System with the sizes and orbits of all known asteroids, scientists believe that an asteroid as large as Apophis only comes this close to Earth once every 5,000 to 10,000 years.

New observations spotlight the volatile processes that shape star systems like our own, offering a unique glimpse into the primordial stages of planetary formation.

Astronomers have captured a snapshot of a giant asteroid collision in Beta Pictoris, revealing insights into early planetary formation. The study, using data from the James Webb and Spitzer Space Telescopes, tracked dust changes around the star. The findings suggest a massive collision 20 years ago, altering our understanding of this young star system’s development.

Massive collision in beta pictoris star system.

Scientists have unveiled three concepts for tiny spacecraft that could voyage from Earth to meet Apophis in April 2029.

Discussions about asteroid 2024 GJ2 near miss with Earth on 11 Apr 24, and asteroids Apophis, Bennu, potential impacts and more!

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Continue reading “Asteroid 2024 GJ2 — Will It Hit Earth?” »

As the infrared space telescope continues its long-duration survey of the universe, it is creating a unique resource for future astronomers to make new discoveries.

Continue reading “NASA’s NEOWISE Unveils Hidden Universe of Near-Earth Objects” »

Dr. Shantanu Naidu: “When DART made impact, things got very interesting…the entire shape of the asteroid has changed, from a relatively symmetrical object to a ‘triaxial ellipsoid’ – something more like an oblong watermelon.”

On November 24, 2021, NASA launched the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission with the goal of demonstrating that deflecting an incoming asteroid could prevent it from striking Earth by striking the asteroid itself. Just over nine months later, on September 26, 2022, this demonstration was successfully carried out as DART acted as a kinetic impactor and intentionally struck the Dimporphos asteroid, which measures 560 feet (170 meters) in diameter.

But while the impact successfully altered Dimorphos’ orbit around the binary near-Earth asteroid, Didymos, could it have altered other aspects of Dimorphos, as well? This is what a recent study published in The Planetary Science Journal hopes to address as a team of international researchers led by the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) discovered the impact also altered the shape of Dimporphos.

Continue reading “DART Impact: Reshaping Dimorphos and Redefining Asteroid Dynamics” »

When it was first discovered in 2004, Apophis was identified as one of the most dangerous asteroids in that there was a risk that it could impact Earth. But that impact assessment changed over the years after astronomers tracked Apophis, also known as asteroid 99,942, and its orbit became better determined, and it became clear that it was on course to miss our planet.