Asteroid

Cosma / Communication / Knowledge / Realm / Physical / Universe / Solar System / Small Body / Asteroid
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Introduction1

American Museum of Natural History (YouTube Channel)
American Museum of Natural History (Official Site)

Dictionary

asteroid : any of the small rocky celestial bodies — Merriam-Webster   See also   OneLook

Encyclopedia

Asteroids are a class of Small Solar System Bodies in orbit around the Sun. They have also been called planetoids, especially the larger ones. These terms have historically been applied to any astronomical object orbiting the Sun that did not show the disk of a planet and was not observed to have the characteristics of an active comet, but as small objects in the outer Solar System were discovered, their volatile-based surfaces were found to more closely resemble comets, and so were often distinguished from traditional asteroids. Thus the term asteroid has come increasingly to refer specifically to the small rocky–icy and metallic bodies of the inner Solar System out to the orbit of Jupiter. They are grouped with the outer bodies—centaurs, Neptune trojans, and trans-Neptunian objects—as minor planets, which is the term preferred in astronomical circles. — Wikipedia

Asteroid Category (Wikipedia)
Asteroid (Encyclopædia Britannica)

Asteroid (COSMOS: The SAO Encyclopedia of Astronomy)

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Adventures

Explore related posts on Cosma

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Inspiration

This animation represents a map of the increased count of all known asteroids in the solar system between Jan. 1, 1999, and Jan. 31, 2018. Blue represents near-Earth asteroids. Orange represents main-belt asteroids between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. — NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory

NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory

NASA’s Eyes is a freely available suite of computer visualization applications created by the Visualization Technology Applications and Development Team at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) to render scientifically accurate views of the planets studied by JPL missions and the spacecraft used in that study. Eyes on Astroids provides real-time visualization of every known asteroid or coment that is classified as a Near-Earth Object (NEO). You can also explore most of NASA’s asteroid and comet missions (past and present), from Galileo , to Lucy and DART.– Wikipedia

Eyes on Asteroids (NASA’s Eyes on the Solar System, NASA’s JPL & Cal Tech)

Bennu (NASA’s Eyes on the Solar System, NASA’s JPL & Cal Tech)
Dimorphos (NASA’s Eyes on the Solar System, NASA’s JPL & Cal Tech)
16 Psyche (NASA’s Eyes on the Solar System, NASA’s JPL & Cal Tech)

Bennu Trek is a NASA web-based portal for exploration of Bennu with a collection of data from NASA’s OSIRIS-REx. — Bennu Trek (Solar System Treks, NASA)

Bennu Trek (Solar System Treks, NASA)

Ryugu Trek is a NASA web-based portal for exploration of Ryugu with a collection of data from JAXA’s Hayabusa2. — Ryugu Trek (Solar System Treks, NASA)

Ryugu Trek (Solar System Treks, NASA)

Asteroids (Astrum, YouTube Playlist)

Articles about Asteroids (Big Think)
Talks about Asteroids (TED: Ideas Worth Spreading)

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Innovation

Science

NASA (YouTube Channel)
NASA (Official Website)

Center for Near Earth Object Studies (NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory)
Asteroid Watch (NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory)

Asteroids, Comets & Meteors (NASA Science)
Small Bodies of the Solar System (NASA Science)

Asteroids (NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, YouTube Playlist)

Asteroid Videos (ViewSpace, Space Telescope Science Institute)

Asteroids (NASA Lunary and Planetary Science)

Asteroids, Comets and Other Small Worlds (Planetary Society)

Object Search (International Astronomical Union)

Asteroids (Eric Weisstein’s World of Astronomy, Wolfram Research)
Asteroid (WolframAlpha)

Commerce

Entrepreneurship

Asteroid Campaigns (Kickstarter)

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Preservation

History

Asteroids: The Discovery of Asteroids (European Space Agency)

Library

DDC: 523.44 Asteroids (Library Thing)
Subject: Asteroids (Library Thing)

Subject: Asteroids (Open Library)

LCC: QB 651 Asteroids (Library of Congress)
Subject: Asteroids (Library of Congress)

Subject: Asteroids (WorldCat)

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Participation

Education

Astroids – Level 1 (StarChild, Goddard Space Flight Center, NASA)
Astroids – Level 2 (StarChild, Goddard Space Flight Center, NASA)

What is an Asteroid? (Space Place, NASA)

Asteroids and Comets (Science Trek)
Asteroids (Cosmos4Kids)
Asteroids (Space Scoop)

Asteroids, Comets, and Meteorites (Lunar & Planetary Institute)

More to Explore: Asteroids, Comets and Meteorites (NASA)
NASA Learning Objects: Small Body Data-Base Search Engine (MERLOT)

MERLOT: Multimedia Educational Resource for Learning and Online Teaching
OER Commons: Open Educational Resources

Community

Organization

Minor Planet Center (International Astronomical Union)
Asteroids & Remote Planets Section (British Astronomical Association)

News

Asteroids (Nova Research Highlights, American Astronomical Society)
Asteroid (EurekaAlert, AAAS)
Asteroids (JSTOR)
Asteroids, Comets and Meteors (Science Daily)
Asteroid (Phys.org)


Recent News from Phys.org …

  • A glimpse of the solar system's origins: Striking...
    on September 17, 2026 at 6:40 pm

    Researchers at the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory and Brookhaven National Laboratory have teamed up to get a fresh look at the complex makeup of meteorites and glimpse into our solar system's past.

  • NASA spacecraft discovers a huge new crater on...
    on September 17, 2026 at 8:12 am

    Scientists have discovered a crater on the moon that's bigger than the Roman Colosseum and is the result of a powerful impact two years ago that initially went undetected.

  • Series of reactions reveals how complex carbon...
    on September 14, 2026 at 6:00 pm

    Before there was Earth, there was chemistry. In the unimaginable cold, dark clouds where stars and planets are born, carbon molecules assemble into more complex forms—starting a chemical journey that could eventually deliver some of life's basic ingredients to young planets. There's only one problem: These molecules need heat to form. At least that's what scientists have long believed. But new research from FIU chemist Alexander Mebel reveals such chemistry can actually happen at temperatures […]

  • No cities on the moon—there isn't enough water,...
    on September 14, 2026 at 4:00 am

    The discovery of water in dark craters at the moon's poles has sparked a "moon rush" to establish bases there, followed by villages, cities and heavy industry. How sustainable is this rush?

  • Japan's Hayabusa2 achieves first-ever laser...
    on September 12, 2026 at 9:00 pm

    The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's (JAXA) Hayabusa2 spacecraft reached another milestone this summer, a first for space agencies. On Sunday, July 5, the probe conducted the first successful laser-ranging experiment during a flyby of asteroid Torifune, the first exploration target of Hayabusa2's Extended Mission. This latest milestone will advance the capabilities of JAXA and other space agencies as they pursue future missions involving near-Earth asteroids (NEAs) and other deep-space […]

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Related

Here are links to pages about closely related subjects.

Knowledge Realm

Physical

“Fundamentals”
Law (Constant) Relativity
Force Gravity, Electromagnetism (Light, Color)
Matter (Microscope) Molecule, Atom (Periodic Table), Particle

“Space”
Universe (Astronomical Instrument)
Galaxy Milky Way, Andromeda
Planetary System Star, Brown Dwarf, Planet, Moon

Our Neighborhood
Solar System Sun
Terrestrial Planet Mercury, Venus, Earth (Moon), Mars
Asteroid Belt Ceres, Vesta
Jovian Planet Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune
Trans-Neptunian Object
Kuiper Belt Pluto, Haumea, Makemake
Scattered Disc Eris, Sedna, Planet X
Oort Cloud Etc. Scholz’s Star
Small Body Comet, Centaur, Asteroid

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Notes

1.   The resources on this page are are organized by a classification scheme developed exclusively for Cosma.