The encounter with Donaldjohanson won't be Lucy's first visit to an asteroid. Having launched on Oct. 16, 2021, Lucy encountered the asteroid Dinkinesh and its moon, Selam, in November of 2023.

A new "main-belt comet" — a comet-like object masquerading as an asteroid in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter — has been identified, bringing the tally of these beguiling objects up ...

It was a turning point in the history of life on Earth. An asteroid an estimated 6-9 miles (10-15 km) wide slammed into Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula 66 million years ago, triggering a global ...

A “city-killer” space rock headed for a potential collision with the Moon likely originated in the asteroid belt near Jupiter, a region not known to produce Earth -crossing asteroids ...

Most meteorites originate from the asteroid belt, a region between Mars and Jupiter where over a million asteroids larger than 1 kilometer circle the sun. Those rocks originate from a small number ...

On September 29, an asteroid dubbed 2024 PT5 will become a "mini-moon" of sorts, temporarily entering Earth's orbit for almost two months before the forces of gravity return it to a vast field of ...

The tiny asteroid will orbit the Earth from Sept. 29 to Nov. 25. PT5 will then leave Earth's orbit and return to its asteroid belt, pulling toward the sun and then moving throughout the solar system.