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Instant Expert: Comets and Asteroids
Asteroids and comets have had a fundamental impact on the development of Earth. Future impacts are a significant threat to civilisation - get the gist in our beginner's guide
LATEST ARTICLES
'Frankenstein' fix lets asteroid mission cheat death
18:37 20 November 2009 | 14 comments
The beleaguered Hayabusa asteroid probe is back on track to return to Earth after ground controllers cobbled together a working engine from two dead ones
Water found in lunar impact probably came from comets
23:41 19 November 2009 | 27 comments
The discovery of volatiles in lunar material ejected by NASA's LCROSS mission suggests comets delivered much of the water at the impact site
Meteor shower this week as we cut through comet trails
18:00 15 November 2009 | 25 comments
Hundreds of Leonid meteors an hour will stream across the sky on Tuesday when the Earth passes through old comet streams
Was life founded on cyanide from space crashes?
15:55 06 November 2009 | 21 comments
Comet and asteroid strikes may have seeded Earth with cyanide that prepared the planet for life
Asteroid blast reveals holes in Earth's defences
22:54 26 October 2009 | 141 comments
An explosion over Indonesia, equivalent to a 50-kiloton nuclear bomb, was not spotted before impact
Asteroid isn't just a dry heap of rubble
19:53 12 October 2009 | 31 comments
Two teams have found evidence of water ice on the asteroid 24 Themis – the find suggests asteroids could have delivered some water to the early Earth
Fresh impact risks for asteroid 'poster child'
13:11 08 October 2009 | 30 comments
The chance that the 250-metre-wide asteroid Apophis may hit Earth has been lowered again, but a close approach is now predicted in 2068
Killer asteroid hunter suffers from poor vision
18:33 01 October 2009 | 4 comments
A major new telescope to spot dangerous asteroids and comets, called Pan-STARRS, is being taken offline to fix image-quality problems
Preparing for an asteroid strike
EDITORIAL: 12:36 24 September 2009 | 2 comments
We are ill-equipped to deal with the threat and aftermath of a major impact on a city
Asteroid attack: Putting Earth's defences to the test
COVER STORY: 18:51 23 September 2009 | 145 comments
A massive rock will strike the planet in 72 hours. Would we prepare or panic? The US air force tried to find out
PHYSICS
Do gravity holes harbour planetary assassins?
Weird regions of our solar system where gravity is cancelled out could harbour a dangerous secret, says Stuart Clark
