Photos: Asteroids in Deep Space

Small Asteroid Zips Close By Earth as Astronomers Watch

This photo, a still taken from a NASA telescope video, shows Asteroid 2010 TD54 as it passes Earth on Oct. 12, 2010. It made its closest approach to Earth at 6:51 a.m. EDT (3:51 a.m. PDT). Full story.

'X' Marks the Spot: Hubble Reveals Collision Between Asteroids

The Hubble Space Telscope captures aftermath of asteroid collision in this series of photos taken between January and May 2010. The images show the object P/2010 A2, an X-shaped objected created by two colliding asteroids.

Triple Asteroid Found Near Earth

A radar image of the triple asteroid system 2001 SN263.

First Images of Approaching Asteroid

These low-resolution radar images of asteroid 2007 TU24 were taken over a few hours by the Goldstone Solar System Radar Telescope in California's Mojave Desert. Image resolution is about 20-meters per pixel.

Potentially Dangerous Space Rock Lost, and Found

Minor planet 6344 P-L (=2007 RR9) among the stars on October 3, 2007. This is currently still a faint object, recorded in 3-minute exposures tracked on the target object by Paulo Holvorcem of Brazil, remotely using the 0.35-m telescope at Tenagra Observatory in Western Australia (at Shenton Park, near Perth) operated by Paul Luckas.

Japanese Craft Takes Close-up Photos of Asteroid

Scientists made this colorized image of the near-Earth asteroid Itokawa by combinging images taken in various wavelengths by Japan's Hayabusa spacecraft.

Japanese Space Probe Reaches Asteroid

Hayabusa's view of asteroid Itokawa. The Japanese space probe has closed in on the object. Future objective of the spacecraft is to sample the asteroid and then return those specimens back to Earth.

Largest Asteroid Might Contain More Fresh Water than Earth

Snapshots of the asteroid 1 Ceres taken by the Hubble Space Telescope provide clues about the asteroid's interior make-up. The bright spot that appears in each image is a mystery.

Get Closer

Japan's Hayabusa space probe has drawn closer to its celestial target: asteroid Itokawa. The spacecraft is being prepared for touchdown this month on the space rock, picking up specimens for return to Earth, and deploying a small lander that can hop from

Huge Tunguska Explosion, Still Mysterious

The Tunguska explosion flattened some 500,000 acres of Siberian forest on June 30, 1908. This image is from the Leonid Kulik expedition in 1927.