Asteroid Adventures: Deeper Dive

It seems JavaScript is either disabled or not supported by your browser. To view this site, enable JavaScript by changing your browser options and try again.

Mosaic of Bennu created using observations made by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft in close proximity to the asteroid for 2 years

Photo mosaic of asteroid Bennu created using observations made by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft.

Asteroids can be found in many places in our Solar System. Which asteroids have we visited and what are we still trying to find? Take your curiosity about asteroids to the next level by exploring an array of links and resources below.

Asteroid Adventures is a live, 15-minute, family-friendly program hosted by Morrison Planetarium presenters in Hohfeld Hall. Showtimes are Monday-Friday at 1:40 pm, and Saturday-Sunday at 11:40 am, 1:40 pm, and 3:40 pm.

Missions to visit asteroids

Some space missions have gone to asteroids, and some are even bringing back material! Explore more with the links below.

OSIRIS-Rex: first NASA mission to return an asteroid sample
Hayabusa and Hayabusa 2: Two missions sent by JAXA (the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency) to collect asteroid samples and bring them home
DART: visited and nudged an asteroid to change its orbit

NEOs

Some asteroids are considered Near Earth Objects (NEOs). What are NEOs and where do we find them? Explore more with the links below.

NEO basics from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)
Potentially hazardous asteroids: What do we know about them?

Asteroids we visited in the show

What are the asteroids we visit in Asteroid Adventures? Explore more with the links below.

Itokawa: a relatively small asteroid and also a NEO
Ceres: the largest object in the asteroid belt, also a dwarf planet
Chelyabinsk meteor
Tunguska event
Chury: the only comet we visit in the show
Object that caused the dinosaur extinction
Didymos and Dimorphos: The double asteroid

Even more ways we’re looking for asteroids!

We don’t just explore asteroids by visiting them, or waiting for them to visit us—we are searching for asteroids all the time with various missions. Explore more with the links below.

The Asteroid Institute with the B612 foundation is looking for asteroids using computer algorithms
The Vera C. Rubin Observatory will search for asteroids, and many other objects, when it begins its work

Images seen in the show

Sources for the images in the show can be found below.

Meteorite sample from Center for Meteorite Studies
Itokawa Asteroid, from JAXA
The comet 67P/Chury, from ESA/Rosetta/MPS for OSIRIS Team MPS/UPD/LAM/IAA/SSO/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA
Comet Neowise taken over Antelope Valley, CA
DART spacecraft, from Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Labratory
OSIRIS-REx spacecraft, from NASA/GSFC