Asteroids

Blogs about asteroids

Some of the galaxies included in the DESI Legacy Imaging Surveys map (Image: DESI Legacy Imaging Surveys/LBNL/DOE & KPNO/CTIO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA)

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The DESI Legacy Imaging Surveys team has released the largest 2D map of the universe. Consisting of 5.6 trillion pixels, this map includes nearly 4 billion celestial objects, ranging from asteroids to galaxies, as well as other objects such as stars, black holes, and more. It’s a vast archive spanning approximately three-quarters of the sky, useful for astronomical studies requiring information at optical and near-infrared frequencies. This result isn’t the final one, as the map will be used to determine the distances to objects such as quasars to construct a new map, this time 3D.

The samples collected by the Hayabusa 2 space probe on two different occasions from the first and second selected sites on asteroid Ryugu.

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An article published in the journal “Nature Astronomy” reports the discovery of the five nucleobases that form DNA and RNA—adenine, guanine, cytosine, thymine, and uracil—in samples brought back to Earth from asteroid Ryugu. A team of researchers analyzed two of the samples taken by JAXA’s Hayabusa 2 space probe during its mission. The five nucleobases were found in both samples. Just over a year ago, the detection of the five nucleobases in samples brought back from the asteroid Bennu by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx space probe was announced. This provides further confirmation of the presence of life’s building blocks on asteroids, and it’s possible that they seeded the primordial Earth.

The Tianwen-2 space probe blasting off atop a Long March 3B rocket (Photo courtesy Xinhua/Cai Yang)

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A few hours ago, the Tianwen-2 mission was successfully launched. A Long March 3B rocket blasted off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center, and after about 18 minutes, the space probe separated from the rocket’s last stage to begin its journey towards the asteroid 469219 Kamoʻoalewa. The goal is to collect samples from its surface to bring back to Earth and then resume its journey in space towards the comet 311P/PanSTARRS.

A sample from asteroid Bennu (Photo courtesy Yasuhiro Oba)

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Two articles, one published in the journal “Nature” and one in “Nature Astronomy” report the results of examinations of samples from asteroid Bennu with the discovery of the presence of all the DNA and RNA bases and 14 of the 20 amino acids present on Earth. Two teams of researchers analyzed these samples, which were collected by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx space probe, which brought them back to Earth. Building blocks of life were also found in samples from the asteroid Ryugu brought back to Earth by the Hayabusa 2 space probe and the ones found in the samples brought back from Bennu offer new confirmation that the Earth may have been “seeded” by asteroids.

The Hera space probe blasting off atop a Falcon 9 rocket (Image courtesy SpaceX)

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Yesterday, ESA’s Hera space probe blasted off atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from the Cape Canaveral together with the two nanosatellites Juventas and Milani. After about 76 minutes, it successfully separated from the rocket’s last stage and set on its course which in almost exactly two years will take it to the asteroid Didymos and its moon Dimorphos to examine the consequences of the impact of NASA’s DART spacecraft.