Asteroids, Comets & Meteors - NASA Solar System Exploration
Our solar system’s small bodies – asteroids, comets, and meteors – pack big surprises. These chunks of rock, ice, and metal are leftovers from the formation of our solar system 4.6 billion years ago. They are a lot like a fossil record of our early solar system. There are currently known asteroids and known comets. Explore By Type
In Depth | Perseids – NASA Solar System Exploration
The Perseids are one of the most plentiful showers with about 50 to 100 meteors seen per hour. They occur with warm summer nighttime weather allowing sky watchers to comfortably view them. Perseids are also known for their fireballs. Fireballs are larger explosions of light and color that can persist longer than an average meteor streak.
Earth By the Numbers – NASA Solar System Exploration
2024年12月19日 · Your home. Our Mission.And the one planet that NASA studies more than any other.
The Sun By the Numbers – NASA Solar System Exploration
2024年12月19日 · The Sun is the star at the heart of our solar system. Its gravity holds the solar system together, keeping everything – from the biggest planets to the smallest bits of debris – in its orbit.
In Depth | Phobos – NASA Solar System Exploration
Phobos, gouged and nearly shattered by a giant impact crater and beaten by thousands of meteorite impacts, is on a collision course with Mars. Phobos is the larger of Mars' two moons and is 17 x 14 x 11 miles (27 by 22 by 18 kilometers) in diameter.
The Scientific Rationale for Studying Meteorites found on Other …
The ongoing identification of several meteorite candidates on Mars is ushering in a new discipline in the planetary sciences. We feel that cultivating an appreciation for the potential science return represented by meteoritic specimens on Mars and the Moon may be …
Saturn By the Numbers – NASA Solar System Exploration
2024年12月19日 · Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun, and the second largest in the solar system. It’s surrounded by beautiful rings.
Explore the science of the Solar Eclipse
2024年4月8日 · NASA’s real-time science encyclopedia of deep space exploration. Our scientists and far-ranging robots explore the wild frontiers of our solar system.
Compelling Evidence Found for Ancient Life on Mars
2000年12月13日 · The researchers discovered evidence of bacteria in a Martian meteorite. Tiny magnetite crystals - so called magnetofossils - embedded in the meteorite were confirmed to be the type produced only by a biological process unique to magnetotactic bacteria.
Mars By the Numbers – NASA Solar System Exploration
2024年12月19日 · Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun, and the seventh largest. It’s the only planet we know of inhabited entirely by robots.