Incoming point

Celestial Objects to Observe

"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.

Orbit of asteroid 2019 LF6

Solar System

Sky-surveying Telescopes Sweep Up Near-Earth Asteroids

Discoveries include a near-Earth asteroid with the shortest “year” and another found hours before it burned up in Earth’s atmosphere.

Near-Earth asteroid

Solar System

Planetary Society Grants Help Astronomers Track Dangerous Asteroids

There are some 25,000 near-Earth asteroids with diameters more than 140 meters. Amateur astronomers can find them — and the Planetary Society can help.

Just Saying Hello

Celestial News & Events

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…

Orbit of asteroid 1998 QE2

Celestial News & Events

Biggish Asteroid 1998 QE2 Pays Earth a Visit

This week's visit by asteroid 1998 QE2 is just a courtesy call, as it passes by on May 31st at 15 times the Moon's distance. A NASA radar team has already discovered that this big space rock has a sizable companion.