1–20 of 36 results
Berlin fall fragment

People, Places, and Events

Asteroid 2024 BX1: From a Light in the Sky to Rocks on the Ground

The asteroid 2024 BX1 went from a moving dot of light to rocks on the ground in mere hours — and amateur astronomers were critical to both discovery and recovery.

Vesta and Orion

Celestial Objects to Observe

Vesta Sets Sail Across Orion

Look who's visiting this winter in Orion: Vesta, a bright asteroid with a dark side.

2023 BU close approach

Celestial Objects to Observe

Tiny Asteroid 2023 BU to Miss Earth

A recently discovered asteroid will pass exceptionally close to Earth on January 26th. Here's how to see it. Also, Comet ZTF (C/2022 E3) is brightening nicely, with three tails visible in binos.

Battered Vesta

Asteroids

Observe Vesta — and Own a Piece of It, Too

Vesta's bright and easy to find in binoculars and maybe even with the naked eye in late summer skies. It's also just as easy to acquire a piece of it without a multi-billion dollar space mission.

Asteroid makes close approach

Celestial News & Events

Watch an Asteroid Race Across the Sky

The kilometer-wide, potentially hazardous asteroid 1994 PC1 will fly past Earth on January 18th. Good news on two counts: It won't hit us, and it's bright enough to see in a 4-inch telescope.

Battered Vesta

Asteroids

March — A Good Time to Visit Vesta

Dip into this easy guide to seeing the brightest asteroid, Vesta, and understanding what makes it unique.

Asteroids

Chase a Potentially Hazardous Asteroid As It Flies by Earth

Break out your binoculars or a small telescope, we've got a busy week ahead! Watch as a bright asteroid approaches Earth, the Moon steals a star, and Comet ATLAS's last hurrah.

Incoming point

Celestial News & Events

"Potentially Hazardous" Asteroid Is Headed For Your Telescope

A potentially hazardous asteroid makes a flyby of Earth this Friday, offering amateurs with modest telescopes a chance to ride along.

Trojan asteroids

Celestial News & Events

Be a Warrior — Tackle a Trojan Asteroid

You've seen Jupiter and its four brightest moons. Now meet the rest of the family — the Trojan asteroids.

Protoplanet of intrigue

Explore the Night with Bob King

Pop in on Pallas and Iris Tonight

Break out your binoculars or telescope the next clear night for a peek at the bright asteroids Pallas and Iris, both at opposition this spring. 

Celestial Objects to Observe

Vesta Gets Close and Bright

Vesta, the brightest asteroid, puts on one of its best shows ever in June, when it shines enough to see without optical aid.

Amalthea occultation chords

Asteroids

Asteroid 113 Amalthea to Occult Star

Here's an opportunity for amateur astronomers to reveal more about asteroid Amalthea's satellite.

Explore the Night with Bob King

Asteroid 3200 Phaethon: Geminid Parent at Its Closest and Brightest!

The parent asteroid of next month's Geminid meteor shower, 3200 Phaethon, is about to make a historically close flyby. Get ready to watch it race across the sky.

Celestial News & Events

Asteroid Florence Pays Earth a Visit

Florence, one of the largest Earth-approaching asteroids, gets close enough to see in a small telescope this week and next. Here's how to find it.

Just Saying Hello

Explore the Night with Bob King

See a Potentially Hazardous Asteroid From Your Backyard

Get ready for 2014 JO25, the biggest asteroid to fly this close to Earth since 2004. Good news — even a 3-inch telescope will show it! Update: See below for a radar image and animation of 2014 JO25 captured by NASA's Goldstone Solar System Radar on April 18, 2017. Every week, a…

Celestial Objects to Observe

Let's Get Serious About Ceres

We pay a visit to Ceres, now the apple of the Dawn Mission's eye, as it creeps through Sagittarius this month

Non-threatening, favorable pass

Asteroids

See Icarus Wing By Earth This Week

It's no myth. Icarus makes a rare flyby of Earth this week. Here's how to see it in your telescope and live online.

Celestial Objects to Observe

Do We Have Pieces of Pallas on Earth?

Chips of Pallas grace meteorite collections around the world. See where they all came from when the asteroid reaches opposition this spring.

Paths of Ceres and Vesta

Celestial News & Events

Super-close Pairing of Ceres and Vesta

Two bright asteroids now appear extremely close to one another in the evening sky. Here's how to spot them in binoculars or a small telescope.

Celestial Objects to Observe

The Benson Prize

If saving the Earth from destruction isn't enough incentive to find near-Earth asteroids, there's a prize for the amateur who discovers one.