Dinkinesh and its contact-binary moon

Space Missions

Lucy Mission Flies By Asteroid Dinkinesh, Finds Binary Moon (Updated)

The Lucy mission's flyby of the main-belt asteroid Dinkinesh resulted in a surprise — yet another asteroid moon!

Lucy spacecraft next to shiny rock on black field

Solar System

Lucy Mission Has a New Asteroid to Fly By

NASA’s Lucy mission now has a new first target of opportunity, a main-belt asteroid it will visit this November.

Lucy

Space Missions

Lucy Mission Will Zoom By Earth This Weekend

With a little luck, observers in Australia and western North America may spy the Lucy spacecraft as it flies by Earth on October 16th.

misshapen Polymele

Solar System

Winking Stars Help Map Asteroids — and Discover a New Moonlet

An innovative method enables astronomers to gauge the size and shape of a distant asteroid — and potentially any km-scale object in the solar system.

Illustration of Jupiter Trojans

Solar System

Trojan Asteroids Are in a Class of Their Own

Hordes of debris trapped by Jupiter and Neptune have distinct colors that mark them as possibly the last remnants of the material that built the giant planets.

Lucy and Psyche

Space Missions

NASA's Lucy & Psyche Asteroid Missions

Last week, NASA announced two new missions set to explore the earliest remnants of the solar system: asteroid 16 Psyche and Jupiter's Trojan asteroids.