REx, NASA's first asteroid sample return mission, reveals why some gray asteroids reflect light at different wavelengths, ...

WHAMMO! Comet 9P/Tempel 1 dances with light moments after the Deep Impact spacecraft impactor’s strike into the nucleus July 4, 2005. Comets and asteroids are both leftover debris from the ...

New data from the James Webb telescope suggests that Bennu and Ryugu — two asteroids recently visited by sample-return ...

It’s easy to overlook asteroids like Bennu and their more rarely seen icy cousins, comets. These tiny leftovers from the solar system’s creation lack the magnificence of ringed Saturn or the ...

Asteroids and comets were formed about 4.5 billion years ago, during the earliest moments of our solar system. They orbit the sun, just as planets do.

Scientists studying asteroids found that two seemingly unrelated types share a strange dusty coating of troilite. By using ...

So, why do comets wow us and asteroids scare us? In this writer’s opinion, it’s all in the look. Because comets are made of ice, rock and hydrocarbons, they produce a spectacular tail when they get ...

Scientists studying asteroids found that two seemingly unrelated types share a strange dusty coating of troilite. By using ...

Asteroids and comets can teach us about the beginnings of the universe. Asteroids and comets are more than just frozen rocks flying about in space. They’re key to understanding the early history ...

Comet Neowise streaks through the night sky above the forests of Girona, Spain, leaving behind a glowing trail of gas and dust. Humans have long had a fascination with comets and asteroids—both ...

Meanwhile, asteroids are composed mainly of rock and metal, making them much denser than comets. They are inert rocks that haven’t changed much since they formed nearly 4.6 billion years ago.

Updated Sep 1, 2022 12:50 AM CDT 1 minute & 45 seconds read time NASA has taken to its official social media to explain the difference between asteroids, comets, and meteorites as they are different.